Two and a half weeks
by Suzanne LongBranch
Summary: Lizzie and Gordo haven't seen each other in six years after Gordo left to pursue his dream of directing. Now at their 10 year reunion they meet again and Lizzie tells Gordo a secret she's kept for six years and its going to change everything.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I don't own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does.   
  
Hi, this is my first fan fiction so don't be too mean! This is really the prolouge and I know its really long, but I wanted to get the background stuff in one chapter, so sorry! Well I hope you enjoy!  
  
Chapter 1- Prologue  
  
"Gordo, please don't do this!" 22-year-old Elizabeth "Lizzie" McGuire begged of her boyfriend of eight years David Gordon "Gordo". It was an unseasonably warm night in New York City but in Lizzie and Gordos apartment, located just blocks from NYU where Gordo had just graduated from film school; there was a definite chill in the air.  
  
"Please don't leave, what about me, what about us?"  
  
Gordo stopped his packing for a moment and turned to face her, his intense blue eyes flashing with hurt and anger.  
  
"Lizzie, its only for four or five months, I'm not abandoning you or us, I'm following my dream, I'd hoped that of all people you would understand"  
  
"I thought I was your dream" Lizzie whispered, her brown eyes welling up with tears that she was trying to hold back. She looked down at the small diamond ring on her left hand and felt a few of the tears start to slip out.  
  
" What about our wedding? We haven't even set a date and we've been engaged for almost two years and living together for three years, how long are we going to wait?"  
  
"We'll plan it when I get back, I have to do this Liz, it'll be great for my career. A real documentary, they want me to assist, and I've only been out of film school for a month, why are you being so difficult about this?"  
  
It's not just this Gordo, you've changed the last few months, you're distant, all you care about is films and getting discovered, all I am to you now is an item on your daily list of things to deal with… I'm a habit you can't get rid of"  
  
Gordo stared at her silently for a moment and they stood in face off letting Lizzies last comment hang in the air. Gordo spoke first  
  
"Do you really think that little of me, do you really think that I feel that way about you, and do you think that little of my dream of becoming a director, you used to support me" Gordos voice rose as he went on until he was almost yelling.  
  
Lizzies eyes went from hurt and sad to angry very quickly and then she exploded  
  
"How dare you call me unsupportive, I have supported you from day one. May I remind you that I picked up my whole life to move here with you, I gave up the school that I wanted to attend to come here with you." Lizzie was really screaming now and it felt so good to let some her anger and frustration out.  
  
" I busted my butt at community college so that I could get into Columbia and stay near you and I have attended every student film festival in the tri-state area to support you. And I have played second fiddle to your movies for the last year so that your final project would get you the "recognition you deserve" in your words. Well you got your recognition Gordo, you get to go to China for five months and make a "real" documentary. What about me, I'm graduating too, and you're going to miss it. Lizzies voice dropped and she took a deep breath before continuing, quietly now.  
  
"I've worked so hard, and you won't be there. So who's being unsupportive?"  
  
Lizzie finally stopped and waited expectantly for his reply, hoping that maybe he would change his mind, maybe he would break down, apologize and say he loved her and that they would get married and never be apart. Instead he opened his mouth and said  
  
"Nobody said that you had to come"  
  
Lizzie stared at him like she had been slapped in the face and punched in the stomach at the same time. She searched for words to reply to that  
  
" Gordo, what…"  
  
"I'm sorry I said that Lizzie, I didn't mean it, I…"  
  
"No" Lizzie cut him off, her voice shaking  
  
"You meant it, and I understand now, you never wanted me here, I am just a habit you put up with, but… why did you propose" tears were flowing freely down her face by then, "why?"  
  
"Liz, I did-I mean I do want to marry you, but I have to do this, why don't you understand that?"  
  
Lizzie was silent for a moment; she knew the truth as hard as it was to accept, before taking a deep breath and summoning all of her courage.  
  
"Fine, go to China, do your documentary, but if you walk out that door, you don't have to bother coming back." And with that Lizzie slid her beloved engagement ring off of her finger and set it on the coffee table and walked into their bedroom closing and locking the door behind her.   
  
"Lizzie, come on" she heard Gordo call after her  
  
"Please don't be like this… Liz…LIZZIE"  
  
Lizzie was already crying softly in their bedroom and hearing him call after her was making it worse so she went into the bathroom turned on the water in the bathtub as loud as she could and cried herself to sleep on the bathroom floor.   
  
When Lizzie awoke the next morning she was in the bed under a blanket. The water had been turned off and the apartment was dead silent. The last thing she remembered was crying on the bathroom floor after her fight with Gordo. Wait where was Gordo? She had locked the bedroom door, how had he gotten in? And how did she get in bed? Lizzie looked around the room and saw that the doorknob had been removed, Gordo must have taken it off to get in, and then he must have put her in bed. Lizzie smiled   
  
"He must have stayed!" she thought to herself, but if he stayed, where was he?  
  
Lizzie stumbled out of bed and went to look for him in the apartment, but all she found was emptiness, all of his clothes and movies and books and even his toothbrush was gone. All she found was a note on the kitchen counter  
  
I don't know what to say Liz…  
  
Good-bye  
  
Lizzie stared in disbelief, she didn't know what to do, she couldn't breathe or think, she felt frozen, and then she ran for the bathroom and threw up.  
  
Twenty minutes later Lizzie was still hanging over the toilet throwing up every few minutes, she had know idea what she was throwing up, she hadn't eaten much the past few days, she had been too upset about Gordos announcement that he was running off to China for five months to work on a documentary. Now he was gone, after being best friends for 22 years, and dating for the last eight of those years, with a brief 2 month split junior year after a silly argument that neither remembered what it had been about, he was gone, out of her life. Lizzie literally did not know how to function without him there, she had never had to, he was always there, loving her, protecting her, and encouraging her. He had encouraged her to apply to Columbia, to indulge in her love of writing and get major in English and minor in journalism. Now she was graduating and had several offers from various newspapers and magazines around the country to choose from, but she had no Gordo. The thought made her ill all over again and it was almost ten minutes later before she felt that she had nothing left in her stomach. She staggered to her bed and collapsed in a fit of tears, made worse when she attempted to sit up and found herself face to face with a picture of her and Gordo taken last winter in Central Park. He looked so cute, with snowflakes sprinkled in his dark curly hair, he had grown a bit and was now noticeably taller than Lizzie, and he had filled out a bit but he still very slim. He had his arms wrapped around her in the picture and they both had huge grins on their faces. The memory made Lizzie cry even harder, if that was possible, and soon she had passed out into a deep dreamless sleep.  
  
The phone ringing brought Lizzie out of her sleep. She squinted at the clock by her bed that had read 9:30am the last time she had looked at, right before she had passed out, it now read 5:30pm. Lizzie fumbled for the bedside phone and somehow found the energy to croak out   
  
"He-hello"  
  
"Lizzie? Is that you, what's wrong?" Lizzies best friend Miranda Sanchezs voice rang out through the phone. Miranda had recently graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a degree in communications and she planned to go into event coordinating for major companies. She had just moved to Boston to be with her long time boyfriend Larry Tudgeman while he finished his degree at MIT and began work on his masters degree in some math science space thing that Lizzie could never remember.  
  
"LIZZIE" Miranda said again,  
  
"Whats wrong you sound awful"  
  
"Gordo", Lizzie mumbled  
  
"What about Gordo, is he okay?" Miranda was starting to sound panicked  
  
"He left" Lizzie whispered still not believing it and feeling like she was in a horrible dream that she couldn't seem to wake up from  
  
"He went to China to film a documentary and I told him if went to not come back, so he- he went, he left me."   
  
"He what?" Miranda gasped, she knew that things had been a bit strained the past few months but she never dreamed that they wouldn't work it out, they always did, they were Lizzie and Gordo. They had come back from Rome eight years before officially a couple and had practically shared the same breath since then, with the exception of that bizarre 2 months junior year, Miranda had never understood what that was about. Now they were done? It didn't seem right; there must be a mistake.  
  
"Miranda" Lizzies small quavering voice brought Miranda back to reality  
  
"Miranda I'm scared, I don't know what to do"  
  
"I'm coming there Lizzie, don't worry we'll figure this all out"  
  
"No you just got there and you and Larry are finally in the same state after 4 years, stay there with him, I'll be okay"  
  
Miranda didn't believe her for a moment, she sounded horrible, and barely coherent and Miranda was scared of what she might resort to.  
  
"Not another word, I'll drive down right now and be there as soon as I can," Miranda paused and then added "hang in there Lizzie, we'll figure this all out."  
  
After they hung up Lizzie attempted to find some food, but found herself without an appetite, so she wandered aimlessly around the apartment for a while until she fell on the couch in exhaustion. She tried turning on the T.V. but the sound hurt her ears, same with the radio, and besides any song she heard seemed to make her think of Gordo, and what they had shared, so it was better quiet. Finally she settled for flipping few the photo albums, trying to remember what it felt like when they were happy. She was okay for about half an hour but then the memories once again became too much and for the third time in two days she cried herself to sleep.  
  
KNOCK KNOCK… KNOCK KNOCK  
  
"LIZZIE…. LIZZIE ARE YOU THERE, OPEN UP"  
  
It took Lizzie a minute to realize that she wasn't dreaming, and that Miranda was banging at her door at… 1:05am  
  
"I'm coming" Lizzie called stumbling for the door and fumbling with the lock. By the time she got it open Miranda looked very worried. The worry gave way to shock when she saw Lizzie standing there in two day old clothes, her normally shiny, full blonde hair matted against her face and her brown eyes almost swollen shut from crying.  
  
"Oh my god" Miranda whispered  
  
"Lizzie?"  
  
"Hey Miranda" Lizzie attempted a smile, but couldn't quite make it.  
  
"Come in" she said standing to the side and letting Miranda come in.  
  
"I'm sorry that you had to come all this way"  
  
"No Lizzie, I'm glad I came, you look horrible"   
  
Miranda had expected Lizzie to be upset, but she looked almost incoherent, and Miranda could only guess how long it had been since she had eaten last. Well she would take care of that, as well as getting Lizzie a shower and some real sleep. It wouldn't be easy though, Lizzie had already gone back to curl up on the couch and was looking about ready to cry again, maybe what she needed first was a hug. Miranda walked over to the couch, sat down and put her arms around Lizzie and let her cry.  
  
" Lizzie, what happened?"  
  
"I don't know" Lizzie sobbed, he was offered this great job assisting on this documentary in China, for five months… and I asked him when we would start planning our wedding and he said when he got back… and I said he didn't love me anymore and I was just a habit, and he said I was crazy, and I said that I dropped everything to come with him and he said… he said that I didn't have to come and then I told him if he left to never come back and… and I gave him the ring back…and the next morning he was gone and he had left me this" She pilled the note out her pocket and gave to Miranda.  
  
"He's gone Miranda, he left me all alone here"  
  
Miranda still could not believe it, especially the note, it was so short and cold, not like Gordo at all, he had always been so considerate of Lizzie and gone out of his way to make her happy, and now to walk out like this, it didn't seem possible. Miranda sighed and looked at the clock, almost 1:30 in the morning, she was exhausted and knew that she would have a busy few days getting Lizzie back to human form and through her graduation ceremony, which was in two days, and her parents were supposed to fly in for it, which would mean more explanations and tears. Luckily Miranda didn't start her new job in Boston for a month and Larry was busy with summer school so she wouldn't be missed too much. She was also formulating a plan to get Lizzie to come back to Boston with her and look for a job there. Miranda knew that Lizzie had been offered a job at a Boston publishing company as an editors assistant and at the Boston Globe as some kind of research assistant, which had the possibility to lead to a position as a featured writer for the paper. Both would be great for her right now, and hopefully help her gain some confidence back. For tonight though, Miranda decided the main goal should be to get Lizzie into clean pajamas and a decent night sleep. This took some work, but finally Lizzie was in bed, and with the aid of a sleep sedative, hopefully about to get decent nights sleep.  
  
For the next couple days Miranda worked to keep Lizzie eating and out of bed, and Lizzie worked at keeping the food down. She really was trying, but she just kept getting sick, it was really bad in the mornings and late afternoons. Lizzies parents made it in time for her graduation and were shocked to learn of the break up. At first they tried to convince Lizzie to come back to Hilldridge with them and work in L.A, but in the end they agreed with Miranda that a new city might be a good idea, and Boston sounded like a good place to start. She already knew some people and there would be no memories haunting her at every turn.   
  
It took some time, but three weeks later Miranda returned to Boston with Lizzie, who had given up her apartment, sold what she could of the furniture, put the rest in storage and was one final interview away from having a job at the publishing company. She was till pretty down most of the time, cried at least once a day, and usually threw up once a day as well, which was starting to worry her a bit, but her overall outlook had improved somewhat and she was excited about getting a "real job" as she put it.   
  
Two weeks after that she was just starting her new job and was really enjoying it. She still missed Gordo like crazy and as much as part of her wanted to just curl up and die without him she was trying to stay focused on finding an apartment so that she could move off of Larry and Miranda's couch and give them some privacy, and well the couch was nice, but she missed sleeping on a bed. Lizzie was also getting concerned about why she was still throwing up almost every day. She had been so upset and distraught over Gordo leaving that she hadn't even noticed how long it had been going on. Almost two months had passed since Gordo had left that she finally decided to go to the doctor; she got Miranda to go with her, just in case it was bad.   
  
Lizzie was prepared for the worst, but not for what the doctor told her.  
  
"Miss McGuire" Dr. Davis said looking at her seriously  
  
"Yes" Lizzie stammered praying that it wasn't too bad  
  
" You're pregnant, it looks like you are about 2 ½ months along"  
  
Lizzie stared at her like she had just told her that the sky had turned purple and was beginning to fall down on earth?  
  
"Pregnant?"   
  
"Yes, pregnant" the doctor noticed Lizzies bewildered expression   
  
" I take it this was not planned" she asked, Lizzie shook her head, not saying a word. Lizzie was surprised, but Miranda really wasn't, she and Larry had suspected it for several weeks but hadn't found a way to bring it up to Lizzie yet.   
  
The doctor went on for a few minutes about Lizzies options, but warned her that she needed to decide quickly because she was almost at the end of the first tri-mester.  
  
Lizzie finally found her voice and thanked the doctor and she and Miranda left. Neither one spoke for the first few minutes of the trip home, but Miranda spoke first.  
  
"So do you know what-"  
  
" No" Lizzie cut in.  
  
" Oh well I guess its Gor-"  
  
" Yes" Lizzie answered shortly  
  
" So there was no one-"  
  
" No" Lizzie answered.  
  
Miranda got the hint and they were silent the rest of the way home.  
  
When they reached the apartment Lizzie headed straight for the bathroom, and Larry came in to the living room where Miranda had flopped on the couch to think.  
  
"So is she-"  
  
" Yes" Miranda replied tiredly  
  
"And its-"  
  
"Yes" Miranda said  
  
" Should I say-"  
  
" No" Miranda said and gave him a " I mean it" look  
  
" Gotcha" he said, gave Miranda a quick kiss and returned to the bedroom to work on the computer, where he figured it was safe.  
  
Lizzie finally left the bathroom; she had changed into a pair of jeans and some sneakers and grabbed a sweater calling over her shoulder  
  
" I'm going for a walk" on her way out the door.  
  
It was several hours before she returned and Miranda had started to worry. Lizzie looked tired but was calm and asked Larry and Miranda to come into the living room. She didn't waste any time getting to the point  
  
" I've decided to keep the baby"  
  
Miranda and Larry both nodded in approval  
  
"We completely support your decision" Miranda told her  
  
"Completely" Larry chimed in  
  
"And we'll do anything to help" Miranda added  
  
"Anything" Larry echoed  
  
" Thanks, I've also decided that I'm not going to tell Gordo."  
  
Miranda looked confused  
  
" You mean until he gets back from China, right"  
  
" No" Lizzie said firmly  
  
" Not ever, I don't want him to know, or anyone else for that matter, including my family. I'll tell anyone who asks that I hooked up with some guy right after we broke up when was on the rebound, that it was a one night stand and that I don't know how to get a hold of him, which isn't a total lie, I don't know how to get a hold of Gordo, he didn't leave a number"  
  
Miranda and Larry were silent for a moment and then spoke at once  
  
" Lizzie, I don't think-"  
  
" Are you sure this is-"  
  
They looked quickly at each other and Miranda continued  
  
" Lizzie I don't think this is a good idea, he deserves to know, so do your parents, and his parents, and your friends…"  
  
" He doesn't deserve anything, not after what happened, and I don't want my parents to know because they'll tell him, and you two are my closest friends and you know so I don't see the problem"  
  
"Lizzie" Miranda tried again " I really think-"  
  
" Miranda I've made my decision and I hope that you'll support me, that both of you will support me, you're practically all I have"  
  
There was a long pause, but finally Larry spoke up  
  
" You're right, it is your decision and we'll support you in it, won't we Miranda"  
  
Miranda looked at him surprised, and they had a brief conversation with their eyes, but finally Miranda gave in.  
  
"Yeah we support you"   
  
Lizzie got up and gave them both big hugs  
  
"Thank you so much, this means a lot to me"  
  
Miranda nodded, she still didn't think that this was the right thing to do, but Lizzie was her best friend and she would support any decision she made.  
  
"I'm going to go on and take that apartment I looked at yesterday, so hopefully I'll be out of your hair soon"  
  
" It's not a big deal Lizzie, stay as long as you like" Miranda offered  
  
" No, it'll be better this way, besides it's a block away, you'll see me plenty!"  
  
Two weeks later, Lizzie moved into the small one bedroom apartment. Even though it wasn't very big, it was warm and cozy and in a relatively safe part of town so Lizzie was okay with it.   
  
"Well little baby" Lizzie said on her first night in her new apartment  
  
" Its just you and me now, but don't worry we still have Aunt Miranda and Larry near by, and Grandma and Grandpa are just a phone call a way, so… we'll be okay"  
  
She looked out the window and found herself thinking of Gordo; she wondered where he was and what he was doing, and if he ever though about her, and she wondered what would happen if he ever found out. 


	2. New Life

Chapter 2: New Life  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does.  
  
Thanks for the reviews, I didn't expect that many at all. They say to write what you know so this next part is set in Austin Texas and in Houston Texas because I live in Austin and I know enough about Houston, so that's why Lizzie has ended up in Texas. I'm also going to try to keep the chapters from being too long, but I tend to be wordy so we'll see!  
  
6 years later…  
  
"Yeah mom… sure."  
  
Lizzie wandered around her office with the phone balanced on her shoulder picking up a few last minute things, and tried to pay attention to her mothers' speech about flight safety.  
  
" I know mom, don't talk to terrorists," Lizzie looked up at her secretary Nina who had just walked in to help her get ready to leave and mouthed  
  
"My mom," before rolling her eyes.  
  
Nina grinned and whispered  
  
"Do you want me to run up to daycare and get Emily?"  
  
Lizzie nodded her head in relief and tried to pay attention to her mom.  
  
"What, no I'm listening mom, but Emily's on the way up from daycare so I'll need to go soon so that we can get on the road.......mom she's in daycare because my sitter.....she's is in Europe for the summer…mom the daycare is in the building, its fine and anyways I'm on vacation for the next three weeks so its not like I'll need one."  
  
Lizzie groaned as she flopped in her chair, she had been having this same argument with her mother for the last two weeks, ever since Rachel, her babysitter of two years had graduated from college and gone to Europe for the summer and she had put Emily in the companys daycare until she could hire another one.  
  
Nina returned with the curly blonde haired, big blue eyed, five-and-a-half year old girl.   
  
"Mommy!" the little girl squealed while showing off her beautiful bright smile. Lizzie could never quite get over just how much Emily looked like Gordo when she smiled.  
  
"Hi baby," Lizzie whispered leaning down for a hug .  
  
"Grandma," she said pointing to the phone. Emily jumped up and down.  
  
"I wanna talk, please, please," Lizzie nodded, grateful to pass the phone on for a few minutes.  
  
"Hey mom, someone wants to say hi," Lizzie passed the phone to Emily.  
  
"She's all yours Em," Emily giggled as she took the phone  
  
"Hi Grandma, I miss you."  
  
Lizzie sighed and turned to face Nina.  
  
"Okay, just a few reminders, make sure all the articles are in by next Wednesday, I emailed mine to you so you'll have it. I okayed the photo layout for affordable summer wear, just make sure it gets with the others to go to the printer. Oh, and when you go on vacation next week, make sure that any calls get forwarded to my voice mail and leave my cell number and my parents fax number for emergencies."  
  
Nina nodded and smiled reassuringly  
  
"It'll be okay Lizzie, they'll survive. Go see your family, go to your reunion, and most importantly spend some quality time with Emily!"  
  
Lizzie smiled.  
  
"You're right, I'm just a little nervous I've never been gone this long before."  
  
"I know, but it'll be okay. I'm going to go return some phone calls, let me know when you leave, I'll help you out."  
  
Lizzie nodded and then went to straighten up a little bit before they left. Her mind began to wander as she found herself staring out the window at the rolling hills of Austin Texas. This was where she and Emily had lived for the past three years.   
  
Through Miranda, Lizzie had met the managing editor of a parenting magazine based in Austin who was looking for someone to head up the single parenting section of the magazine; Lizzie and Emily packed up and moved to Austin. A year later her section was so popular that Lizzie became was now the proud editor of her own magazine; "Single Parenting and You" or as people referred to it, "SPY". "SPY" was filled with helpful articles, stories from other single parents, as well as fashion tips on a budget, vacation ideas and dating tips. The magazine kept her very busy, but she was careful to keep enough time free to spend with Emily. Emily had recently begun ballet classes and gymnastics which was making it harder and harder to be everywhere at once. Lizzie sometimes wished that she could be cloned and one of her could be with Emily and the other could do everything else.  
  
"MOMMY!"  
  
Emily's voice brought Lizzie back to reality.  
  
"Hmm, what Em?" Lizzie asked turning around to see Emily holding the phone out to her.  
  
"Grandma wants to talk to you."  
  
"Thanks sweetie, can you go put our bags by the door please, we'll leave when I get off the phone, and go to the bathroom, we're not stopping until we're past Bastrop."  
  
Emily gave her a 'you've told me that a million times' look but went off in the direction of the bathroom.  
  
"Okay mom, we're driving to Miranda's in Houston tonight and our flight leaves at nine tomorrow morning, we stop and change planes in Denver. We should be in LA by 3:30, hopefully we'll make to Hilldridge before traffic gets too bad… yeah mom, Miranda will be with us… no he won't come until next week he has to work… no mom they're not married yet… I don't know mom I guess when they're ready… yeah twelve years...yes Larry has a good job...it's at NASA... well mom they… look mom I need to go I told them we'd be there by nine… about three hours but I told Emily that we'd stop and eat…McDonalds… no mom not every night, we usually eat at home, look mom I've got to go love you bye… okay love you… right no terrorists… love you too bye."  
  
click  
  
"Finally!"  
  
Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief as she hung up the phone. Had her mother always talked that much?  
  
"Mommy, I'm ready," Emily called as she skipped in with a huge grin on her face, Nina following close behind.  
  
"Need some help Liz?" Nina asked looking at the mess of backpacks, briefcases, a laptop and a few stray toys in a heap near the door.  
  
"Please," Lizzie said as she picked up a couple and a teddy bear from her desk.   
  
"I'm going to go change, just help Emily get her stuff in her backpack, I'll get the rest."  
  
Lizzie ran to the bathroom and quickly changed out of her skirt and blouse and into her favorite pair of worn in jeans and a pick t-shirt. Most importantly she got out of the pantyhose and heels and into a pair of flip flops.  
  
When she got to the door of her office she paused, Emily was showing Nina her collection of photos she kept in her backpack.  
  
"…and Aunt Miranda was the first person to hold me, mommy and Grandma were crying, but only cause they were happy. Uncle Tudge is my godfather, but not my real father, I can't see my real father, mommy says he lives far, far away...and I dont know who that boy is but that is mommy when she was my age."  
  
Lizzie, who had been listening from behind the door, finally spoke up.  
  
"Okay who's ready to go?" Lizzie asked sounding a little too cheerful as she came in the room. Nina sensed that Lizzie had overheard and she looked guilty. Lizzie was always very vague when asked about Emilys dad, usually she simply said he wasn't a part of her life and left it at that, but Lizzie had said a few things in the past to suggest that there was a definitely more to the story.  
  
"Sorry Liz, I asked her about the trip and…" her voice trailed off  
  
"Its okay" Lizzie assured her, as she grabbed her briefcase and a garment bag  
  
"Ready to go munchkin, we have a long drive ahead of us. Nina can you help us downstairs?"   
  
Five minutes later the trio was loading up Lizzies already very full Jeep Cherokee and Lizzie was starting to sound nervous about leaving for so long.  
  
"So you have my cell phone number, and my parents number, and their fax number, and I'll check my email and my voice mail several times a day and…"  
  
HONK  
  
The sound of the cars' horn made Lizzie jump a mile and Nina scream.  
  
"MOMMY, if you aren't in this car in 10 seconds I am leaving without you! 1…2…4…"  
  
"I think I'm being paged," Lizzie grinned at Nina. "...I'll see you in a few weeks, enjoy your vacation."  
  
Nina leaned over and gave her a hug.  
  
"I will, have fun at your reunion, bye Miss Emily."  
  
"Bye Nina," she called happily "come on mom."  
  
"Bye," Lizzie said as she climbed in. She sat there for a second while wondering to herself what would become of the next few days. Superficially she wondered how everyone had changed over the past few years, was Ethan still charmingly clueless; was Kate still....Kate? Her thoughts went to Gordo and she couldn't help feeling nervous. It had been 6 years, how had he changed? Was his hair still an unruly mess of dark curls? Did he still wear that directors eyepiece around his neck? Would his smile still make her heart skip a beat; and his eyes......most importantly how would he react when she told him......  
  
"MOMMY, WHILE I'M YOUNG!"   
  
Lizzie smiled.   
  
"Next stop, Aunt Miranda's house!"  
  
A/N: I know this chapter is a little slow, but its building, the next two or so may be a little slow, but hopefully it'll start to pick up. 


	3. Gordo

Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does. There is not a Ken Burns Award, that I know of, I made it up for the story  
  
We'll get back to Lizzie in a little while, for now, let's see what Gordo is up to   
  
Chapter 3 -Gordo  
  
Somewhere, on the beaches of Malibu California, a tired David Gordon had just returned home from a long day of shooting the principle photography for his new film. It had been a long process, but now that it was finally over he was set to take time off for an even bigger event.  
  
  
  
Had it really been ten years?   
  
The thought passed through his head as he wandered into the living room. It was hard enough to believe that six years had passed. There had been a time in his life when going six minutes without seeing her had felt like an eternity.   
  
He took a long look around his still unpacked living room; he had lived there for three months but you would think that he had just moved in. If it had been six years earlier, the apartment would have already felt like a home, but the truth is that these days he did not like being at home.  
  
Work was a good escape and he had begun receiving more and more opportunities, both professional and personal; the professional tended to work out better than the personal. Money was not an issue these days, the only real issue was the envelope that lay on the countertop. His life had been moving along so fast that the reunion invitation had hit him like a brick wall.  
  
For a moment his thoughts turned to the halls of Hilldridge High School. He wondered if Ethan was still blissfully unaware and if Kate was still…well Kate. He was looking forward to seeing Miranda and 'The Tudge,' it had been six years since had spoken to either of them. He had always felt that she had needed them more than he had.   
  
The sun was setting on his ocean view and the apartment began to a shadowy dreamy feel. He plopped down on the couch and thought about the last few years. Five months in China had led to one year in London followed by another two years in Australia and…  
  
"And seven years in Tibet," he joked out loud.   
  
In his mind's eye, he could see Lizzie and Miranda giving him that 'lame joke' look. His stomach tightened and it took him a moment to realize that he had a half grin half frown on his face.   
  
Although his films had not yet broken him into the mainstream, they had led to two Ken Burns Independent Achievment awards and small, but growing, loyal fan base. The two awards were among the few items that he had unpacked. They sat on a half-filled bookshelf along with an old picture of a very young Lizzie and Gordo. It was always one of the first things to find its way out of a U-Haul box.   
  
The past few days had taken their toll on Gordo; his eyes seemed to be in a permanent state of heaviness. He rested his head on the arm of the couch and flipped on the television. He didn't really care what was on, he was more interested in the company it provided.   
  
He closed his eyes and let his mind wander back six years. They say hindsight is 20/20 and that was definitely the truth in his case. The first few months away he had felt like he had made the right decision; the world seemed ready to be explored and conquered. If she had really loved him she would have seen what an amazing opportunity he had been given and she should have supported him.   
  
That was the thinking that had led to their split. It had taken him almost two years to realize that she had never been the problem; it had been all him. It was painful to realize how big of a jerk he had been that night, and every night since.  
  
  
  
"Be patient Gordo, your talent will create opportunities."  
  
Her words echoed in his head. Those words had once provided encouragement during times of high stress; these days they haunted him. She had been right, even if he had not gone to China, he knew that his talent would have provided more and better opportunities; for the both of them.   
  
Why had he gone then?   
  
If he did nothing else, he would at least see Lizzie and admit he had been wrong. Then the ball was in her court; he was at her mercy.  
  
The sun had finally gone down on the ocean view apartment and the music from the neighbors began to filter through the walls. Normally he would join his neighbors for a beer and conversation, but tonight was different. Tonight he wanted to take a long hot shower and mentally prepare for what lay ahead in the next few days.  
  
******  
  
A/N-Sorry it took so long to update, my "editor" was busy with summer school! I should have another chapter up in the next few days. 


	4. Rain, Arrivals, and PoloGate

Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire; Disney does.  
  
A/N: Warning: this chapter is pretty long, and it has a little Miranda/Larry fluff, something that I hadn't planned on, but it kind of wrote itself! I was surprised how much fun they are to write.  
  
Chapter 4-Rain, Arrivals, and Polo-gate  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
Lizzie leaned forward trying to peer through the sheets of torrential rain falling all around them and sighed.  
  
"No."  
  
There was a long pause and the only sounds were from the radio and the constant rain on the windshield.  
  
"Are we there now?"  
  
"No."   
  
Once again a long silence filled the car.  
  
"What about-"  
  
"Emily Grace McGuire if you finish that sentence-,"  
  
Lizzie had several threats in mind, but none seemed appropriate  
  
"…well just don't, it won't be pretty."  
  
"Sorry mommy."  
  
Lizzie sighed, the normal three hour drive had turned into five hours filled with two massive traffic pile ups, road construction, and now, as they finally made it into Houston, a torrential downpour. To make matters worse, the normally well behaved Emily had whined and fussed the entire time and would only listen to her Disney sing-along CD's. Lizzie thought that if she heard Hakuna Matata one more time she would scream. Luckily Lizzie had managed to get the radio back on under the ruse of wanting to hear a weather report. They drove along in silence for the next 15 minutes or so and Lizzie thought, and prayed, that Emily had finally dozed off, but then she heard  
  
"Look, it's the park by Aunt Randa and Uncle Tudges house, we're almost there!"   
  
A few minutes, later the two pulled up to Miranda and Larry's house; Lizzie couldn't remember a time when she had been so happy to see it.  
  
"Okay Em, just grab your overnight bag, we'll get the rest when we leave tomorrow morning, and here, put on your rain coat so you don't get soaked."  
  
Lizzie grabbed her own overnight bag and jacket and prepared to make a run for the large, covered front porch.  
  
"Ready?" asked Lizzie.  
  
Emily nodded seriously as though they were about to make a run across enemy lines. Lizzie suppressed a smile.  
  
"Okay, we go on three." Lizzie said   
  
"Okay mommy."  
  
"One, two…"  
  
"Aieeee-eee," Emily squealed as she bolted from the car  
  
"Three." Lizzie finished, sighing to herself as she watched her daughter narrowly avoid flipping head over heels into the mud. Lizzie got out and slammed the door, and almost fell herself. Somehow the two made it to the front porch in one piece. Lizzie rang the doorbell while Emily jumped up and down.  
  
"Wasn't that fun, Mommy," Emily exclaimed while hopping from one foot to the other.Lizzie rolled her eyes and began to pound on the door  
  
"MIRANDA, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD OPEN THE…."  
  
Miranda opened the door grinning, "My aren't we impatient tonight."  
  
Lizzie, at the end of her rope, had a few choice words for Miranda. Emily, however, had plans of her own.  
  
"AUNT RANDA" Emily squealed happily as Miranda scooped the little girl up in a huge hug. Lizzie squeezed passed this inconvenient Hallmark moment and into the warm, dry house. She dropped their bags on the floor and noticed a silhouette standing in front of the kitchen door.   
  
"Lizzie!" the silhouette exclaimed.  
  
She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light.   
  
"Hey Larry, you look great!" And he did, under Mirandas guidance his dark hair was now stylishly cut and while he didn't wear high fashion, he had lost the green collared polo shirt. In fact standing there in a pair of faded jeans and a dark blue t-shirt he actually looked handsome.  
  
"You don't look too bad yourself kid," he said giving her a hug  
  
"Please," Lizzie rolled her eyes "I look like a drowned rat, I-"  
  
She trailed off as a little blonde streak came flying past her and into Larrys waiting arms.  
  
"UNCLE TUDGE!"   
  
"Hey munchkin," Larry grunted as he scooped up Emily, "I've missed you."  
  
"I missed you too," she said snuggling in for big hug, "do you have any new toys from NASA"  
  
"Of course I do, lets go see them."  
  
Larry always kept an eye out at the gift shop and anytime he saw a cool new toy or t-shirt he would get it for Emily; she now had quite a collection.  
  
"Space shuttle me," Emily begged. Larry did the countdown and they took off up the stairs.  
  
"Be careful!" Miranda called up after them  
  
"Don't get her too wound up," Lizzie warned, "She needs to go to bed!"  
  
Lizzie turned to Miranda and gave her a tired smile.  
  
"I just wasted my breath, didn't I?"  
  
Miranda laughed and gave Lizzie a reassuring hug.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll just let him deal with the consequences."  
  
Lizzie laughed and nodded her head in agreement  
  
"Want to see something scary?" Miranda asked flashing Lizzie a mischievous grin. Lizzie gave her a curious look and nodded.   
  
*  
  
Miranda led Lizzie over to the hall closet and opened the door.  
  
"My parents sent me an old box of photo albums and yearbooks from when we were in middle school and high school. They needed the space for all the 'family heirlooms' they bring back from Mexico every summer."  
  
"Oh you mean those trinkets?" Lizzie asked.  
  
Miranda looked at her oddly and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yes Lizzie, exactly, trinkets… Anyways here's the box, I haven't even gone through it myself so I'm pretty curious."   
  
The box was stacked carefully on top of two other boxes that caught Lizzie's attention.  
  
"Ooh, what's in this one," she asked eagerly, trying to peer into the middle box labeled 'Miranda's Personal Mementos'.  
  
"Oh nothing, nothing at all," Miranda said sharply trying to block her view  
  
"Miranda Isabella Sanchez, what are you hiding?" The full name threat always worked with Emily so Lizzie decided to give it a try.  
  
"Its just junk…trinkets" Miranda insisted   
  
Lizzie faked right and went left; Miranda tried to block but only succeeded in knocking all three of the boxes over. A flood of polo shirts with green collars covered the hallway floor. Lizzie's jaw dropped as she realized Miranda's deep dark secret.  
  
"Lizzie," Miranda hissed looking panicked. "Quick, help me get these put away before…he," she motioned upstairs.  
  
"Miranda are those-"  
  
"What are you implying?"  
  
"Have you been hiding…?"  
  
"Not necessarily"   
  
"Does he know?"  
  
"Who says they're his?"  
  
"There are green collars everywhere"  
  
"I don't see green collars…what green collars?"  
  
Lizzie processed the last few seconds.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Its for his own good, Lizzie, you don't understand…you could never understand"  
  
Lizzie finally broke down and laughed, Miranda looked so ridiculous crawling on the ground, frantically shoving the shirts back into their boxes.  
  
"Aren't you going to help," Miranda asked irritably.  
  
Lizzie laughed even harder. "I think you're doing a good job on your own."  
  
"Please don't say anything," Miranda begged.  
  
Lizzie smiled, "I don't know, I'll have to think about this."  
  
Miranda stood up, hands on her hips and threatened, "I'll go call Gordo right -"  
  
"Okay, okay, good point," Lizzie admitted, "your secret's safe."  
  
"Good," Miranda continued, "now lets never speak of this again."  
  
*  
  
Thirty minutes after 'Polo-Gate,' Lizzie had finally changed out of her wet clothes and into a comfortable pair of pajama pants and an old t-shirt. The two women were curled up on the living room couch with cups of tea. The box of pictures had turned out to be of Miranda's parents, in other words, her parents had sent the wrong box.   
  
In the mean time Lizzie had gotten Emily into her pajamas while Larry had been given the job of actually getting the five-year-old in bed; making her stay there was no small task. Lizzie had decided to give Larry the benefit of the doubt and guessed it would probably take him a good half hour to accomplish this task. Miranda wasn't as kind and had said an hour, at least. There was now five bucks riding on it.  
  
  
  
"So, are you excited about the reunion?" Miranda asked, as they got comfortable  
  
Lizzie shrugged and thought about it for a minute.  
  
"Yeah, I guess, I'm excited about seeing everyone, but…"  
  
"Gordo?" Miranda whispered quietly.  
  
Lizzie nodded her head slowly.  
  
"Are you still going to tell him?"  
  
Lizzie nodded her head again, this time a bit hesitantly.  
  
"Lizzie!?" Miranda warned.  
  
"I am, I am" Lizzie promised "Its just, how do you…how do you…?"  
  
"Tell someone that five and a half years ago you had his child and never told him?"  
  
"You know it sounds so much worse, when you say it!"  
  
Miranda laughed.  
  
"Well that's why you're going to say it."  
  
Lizzie groaned and leaned her head back  
  
"Are you sure, you're welcome to the job, in fact you can be the one to tell my parents too."  
  
"Oh no, that one is all yours, they all are; it is your secret Lizzie. I still can't believe you never told your parents who the real father is."  
  
There were a few minutes of silence as both Lizzie and Miranda gathered their thoughts. Miranda was the first to break the silence.  
  
"Lizzie, are you still in love with him?"  
  
Miranda had expected Lizzie to have a fit at the question and deem it out of line but she was surprised by the answer.  
  
"Sometimes I think I do. Whenever Emily smiles, sometimes I can almost see him, or when I look in her eyes and I see his," Lizzie stopped for a second and tried to stop the tears that were beginning to well up in her eyes.  
  
"Sometimes when I'm lying in bed at night; I can still feel him next to me. I remember how we used to lie and bed at night and just talk, sometimes for hours and…"  
  
Her voice trailed off and the tears began to fall. Miranda leaned over to give her a hug.   
  
"Am I interrupting something?"   
  
The two looked up to see Larry standing there, looking half amused and half worried.   
  
They looked back at each other and said unison, "Cone of silence!"  
  
Realizing what had just happened, they broke into a fit of laughter.   
  
"Lets just hope you're better at the 'cone' than you were before, Miranda"  
  
"Hey" Miranda protested, "One slip up and you're branded?"  
  
"So Larry, is my child asleep yet, or did you just give up?"  
  
"She's asleep…finally!" Larry collapsed next to Miranda looking exhausted.  
  
"Ooh," Lizzie exclaimed looking at the clock, "28 minutes, I win, I win, fork over the five Miranda!"  
  
"Not until I check and see that she is really asleep."  
  
"You two were betting!" Larry exclaimed "you didn't think I could get her to sleep, Miranda I would expect that from you… but Lizzie?" Larry was trying to sound upset but he was working hard to hide his grin.  
  
"Oh poor baby," Miranda cooed putting her arms around him and kissing his cheek.  
  
"I love you and I have complete faith in you."  
  
"Oh you guys are so cute!" Lizzie exclaimed, "I miss that, it's been a long time"  
  
"You should date more Lizzie," Larry scolded, "you're too pretty to stay in all the time, in fact if I weren't attached…"  
  
"Don't even finish that sentences, mister," Miranda threatened, but she was smiling.  
  
"Thanks Larry, but I get out plenty."  
  
"Lizzie, ballet recitals and Gattie Town do not count."   
  
"Those aren't the only places I go, Miranda."  
  
"When was the last time you went out on a date?"  
  
Lizzie squirmed uncomfortably for a moment before replying   
  
"It was you know a month, well two months ago." Lizzie saw Mirandas 'I told you so' expression and got defensive.  
  
"Miranda I am two years away from 30, I have a five year old, and I work like a maniac. You do the math and you figure out why I don't have men lined up at my door!" Lizzie saw Miranda start to open her mouth and decided it was good time for a subject change.  
  
"Now what about you two, you have been engaged for how many years now, does the phrase 'common law' mean anything?"  
  
"Ouch" Larry winced, "diversion, nice tactic Lizzie, I like it."   
  
Lizzie grinned.  
  
"Thank you Larry, I thought it was a nice touch."  
  
"Well I for one" Miranda spoke up "don't care what other people think, I like my life and what WE have just fine."  
  
"And you Larry" Lizzie asked putting on her best therapy voice "are you happy with 'the way things are'."  
  
"Choose you answer very carefully," Miranda warned.  
  
  
  
Thunder boomed in the background  
  
  
  
"Well I…" Larry paused, "talk about your loaded questions." He looked as though he was looking for the perfect words.  
  
"I get to wake up next to the woman I love everyday, it doesn't matter if she's my wife or not, I know that she'll always be there. Yes, I do want to marry her, but I'm willing to wait as long as I have to." Larry stopped to smile at Miranda before continuing.  
  
"Married or not, I'm the luckiest guy on earth."  
  
Miranda leaned over and wrapped her arms around him.  
  
"That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard, I love you."  
  
Lizzie sniffled and wiped away a tear.  
  
"I want a hug too!" she wailed   
  
Miranda and Larry both laughed.  
  
"Come here," Miranda pulled her over for her own hug.  
  
"You know, this is the real reason why guys don't say nice things much, THIS is what happens!" Lizzie settled back into her spot, wiping another stray tear. She noticed that Miranda had a slightly confused look on her face, but decided it was probably nothing.  
  
  
  
"Mommy?!"  
  
Lizzie turned around to see Emily at the foot of the stairs clutching her battered teddy bear, Ben (no one knew where that name had come from) , and her favorite blanket that Miranda gave her when she was born. Lizzie noticed something peculiar about Emily's head. Her ears were pointier than usual.   
  
"Why are you up sweetie," Lizzie paused, "What's that on your head?"   
  
"Those are my Vulcan ear muffs," Larry spoke up, "I figured that they'd muffle the sounds of thunder, you know, so she could sleep better."  
  
" I was asleep, but the storm woke me up and I was lonely"  
  
"Oh, come here baby" Lizzie opened her arms and the little girl happily crawled into her lap. She snuggled against Lizzie feeling warm and soft.  
  
" Are you excited about our trip, Em" Miranda asked   
  
Emily nodded, her blonde curls bouncing along with her  
  
"My grandma said we could go to Disneyland and the beach"  
  
"Ooh" all the adults chorused in unison.  
  
"So how was drive here" Larry asked, "we expected you a couple hours earlier."  
  
"A nightmare" Lizzie answered " wrecks, road construction, storms, idiot drivers…you name it we experienced it"  
  
" Mommy said the 'GD' word"  
  
"Tattletale!"  
  
"Lizzie, Lizzie" Miranda shook her head sadly "What will we do with you"  
  
"She also said…" Emily stopped for dramatics and leaned forward beckoning for Larry to come closer.  
  
"Emily we don't need to share" Lizzie warned  
  
"She said the 'F' word," Emily whispered nodding her head for effect  
  
"Lizzie" Miranda and Larry admonished her  
  
Lizzie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.  
  
"New topic please"  
  
"No I think we need to discuss Lizzies potty mouth," Miranda insisted.  
  
Lizzie smiled innocently at Miranda."You know Larry, you look great, but what ever happened to all of your old polo shirts; they had so much character."  
  
Miranda's eyes widened. "Uh, Lizzie's right, new topic."  
  
*  
  
For the next few minutes the three reminisced about high school and the people they had known and wondered what going back would like. Emily sat in her mothers lap, quietly listening.   
  
"Hey guys," Lizzie said after a about ten minutes, "She's finally out."  
  
"We must be pretty boring," Larry laughed.  
  
"Hey, I can't speak for the two of you, but I am extremely fascinating."   
  
"Sure Miranda," Lizzie said, "You keep thinking that."  
  
Miranda pretended to look offended."Hey!"  
  
"I'm going to take her to bed, before she wakes up again." Lizzie stood up carrying Emily, but almost didn't make it.  
  
"Good grief, I've forgotten how big she's gotten," Lizzie started to look a little sad. "I miss my baby."  
  
"She's still your baby, Lizzie" Miranda reassured her"  
  
"Only when she wants to be, she's 5 going on 15."  
  
"Need some help getting her upstairs?" Larry asked getting up.  
  
Lizzie shook her head. "Nah, I'll be okay. Sleep tight guys. Are we still leaving at 7:30 tomorrow morning? "  
  
"Yeah" Miranda answered, "That should give us enough time to get there and get checked in and stuff."  
  
"Okay," Lizzie started up the stairs "see you guys early tomorrow then"   
  
*  
  
A few minutes later Miranda and Larry were still curled up on the couch together listening to the rain pound the roof.  
  
"Larry," Miranda turned slightly to look up at him.  
  
"Yeah."   
  
"What did you mean by you'll 'wait as long as you have to' for me?"  
  
Larry looked down at her slightly confused. "It means I'll wait until you're ready to get married."  
  
"Yeah but, you're the one who wants to wait to get married."  
  
"No," he shook his head slowly, "that was you."  
  
"No, I've been ready for a while, I've been waiting for you."  
  
"I've been ready since I put that ring on your finger, YOU said you didn't want to rush things."  
  
"Well yeah, but that was five years ago, I didn't want to rush things, but I didn't want them to stall out either."  
  
"You're not happy with us?" Larry sounded surprised and a little hurt.  
  
"No, No!" Miranda assured him, "I just thought you wanted to wait, and I was okay with that, but I've been waiting for a couple years now."  
  
"Well why didn't you say anything?"  
  
"I didn't want you to feel pressured, I love you, I didn't want to push you into anything."  
  
"Well I love you too, I gave you that ring because I wanted to marry you then and I still do."  
  
The two looked at each other for a minute letting all the new information sink in.  
  
Larry spoke first. "So if you're ready, do you…?"  
  
"Well, do you…?"  
  
"I've always…"  
  
"Yeah, me too."  
  
The two stared quietly at each other as the rain continued to fall.  
  
A/N: Awww… I wonder what will happen! I actually don't know yet, I'm working on it. And don't worry Lizzie and Gordo will meet again soon! I know this is going kind of slow, but I know where I want it to end, so thanks for the patience! 


	5. Midnight phone call

Chapter 5- A Midnight Phone Call (lingering memories)  
  
The dark room overflowed with a brilliant white light and then all was dark.  
  
One-one thousand…  
  
Thunder boomed and Lizzie, who had been deep in sleep, quickly rose with her eyes wide open. The room, which she was sharing with Emily for the night, was darker than the night outside. The rain was now falling harder than at any other point in the past six hours and the thunder was right overhead. It, however, had not been the thunder or lightning that had woken her from sleep; it was something else. What was it...? The ringing phone answered her question. Lizzie shook off lingering sleep and blindly reached for her cell phone resting on the night table.   
  
"Hello." She barely managed to mumble a greeting,  
  
"...Lizzie?"  
  
Her whole body tightened, her eyes, which were already wide-open, stretched open further and she could feel her body temperature drop. Was that…? After six years was it actually? The answer to her question crossed her lips before she realized.  
  
"Gordo?"  
  
"Yeah...yes, it's me."   
  
The voice seemed to come from inside of her head and millions of light-years away at the same time. She forced the only logical next question through her lips.  
  
"What…How…Why?"  
  
"I'm here, in Houston...near Larry and Miranda's. I want to see you.... tonight."  
  
He wanted to see her? Six years ago he acted like he never wanted to see her again, but now in the middle of the night with rain pouring down he was desperate to see her. What was worse, she realized, was that she wanted to see him too.  
  
"...Lizzie, are you still there?"  
  
"How did you know where I was!?" Lizzie whispered and shouted at the same time. Emily made a grunting sound and rolled over.  
  
"Miranda called and…It's not important...I need to see you tonight…"  
  
Lizzie still could not comprehend that she was talking to Gordo, was this real? She pinched herself… The dark room once again lit up with a flash of light.  
  
"I'm at Franklin Park."  
  
"I'll be there in ten minutes."  
  
The thunder that had once filled the dark house had stopped and the rain was now only a light drizzle. Lizzie quickly crawled out of bed and pulled her jacket on over her pajamas as she raced down the stairs to the front door. Before she knew it she was running down the street trying to get to him.  
  
The drizzle had slowed to a barely there mist and it created a foggy ambience that seemed to go on for miles in every direction; houses became an undistinguishable blur. The streetlights that were parallel along either side of the street seemed to intersect at some point in the distance; At that point, she thought, is where she would meet Gordo.   
  
The time passed in that way it does when the hour is late and Lizzie finally arrived at the park entrance. She crossed through the wet grass and trees towards the visitor center. A late night animal scurried past her as she wandered through a dense   
  
section of trees. The fog at her feet did not allow her to see what it was but she could hear it rustle in the bushes behind her. She thought it might be a raccoon returning home to feed it's family. The thought of this reminded her of Emily. EMILY! She had been in such a hurry to get to Gordo that she had forgotten about Emily. She needed to stop and go home right now, but she was unable to stop. He was too close.  
  
The fog in all directions had become so thick that she felt she might get lost and she may have if it had not been for the flashing light, at the entrance to the visitor center, guiding her. When she got there she looked around frantically, worried that she had missed him, but then she saw a shadowy figure, coming out of the fog, walking toward her. Even in the dark night, his blue eyes shown like a lighthouse guiding her towards him…  
  
"Gordo" Lizzie gasped; tears started to fill her eyes. It was him, it was his smell and his embrace. After six, long and eventful, years, there he was, standing in front of her. The emotions almost became too much for her handle, and she felt herself start to faint. Gordo reached out his arms and caught her.  
  
"Is it really you?" she asked.  
  
He smiled gently at her as he stood in front of her, that smile, the smile that Emily had flashed so many times.   
  
"It's really me."  
  
"What are you doing here, Gordo?"  
  
"I've needed to see you, I've missed you so much, I needed to be near you again."  
  
With that he pulled Lizzie tighter into his arms and held her. It was the first time she had felt him in six years and the feeling literally took her breath away. Parts of her knew that she needed to pull away and tell him the truth; tell him the secret that she had carried for six years now. Part of her wanted to beat him senseless, to yell and scream and make him feel the same pain that she had felt all those lonely nights. Part of her wanted to be in his arms, to hear his voice, and to feel his embrace; all the conflicting emotions overwhelmed her; she just wrapped her arms around him as well and let him hold her.   
  
Finally, her conscience kicked in and she pulled away. "No Gordo, I can't, I have to tell you something."   
  
Gordo stared at her.  
  
"I… You…" Lizzie could barely finish the sentence, tears started to fall. Gordo reached out to touch her shoulder, but she backed off and shook her head; she had to get this out. "Please don't touch me, I don't know how to feel right now." His embrace would only confuse her more at this moment.   
  
"Gordo, you have...we have a daughter. Her name is Emily, she's five and a half, she's beautiful and she's smart… she's grumpy like you in the morning and..." Lizzie's voice trailed off and she started to sob uncontrollably.   
  
After a minute or so, Lizzie looked up to find Gordo still staring at her in with a look of disbelief on his face. She saw anger flashing in his eyes; they no longer appeared warm, they were now cold and reserved.  
  
"I'm so sorry Gordo, I'm sorry I never told you, I should have, I just… I don't know." Lizzie shook her head and took a deep breath. She wanted to explain, to make him understand why she had kept her secret, but in truth she didn't really know. Gordo had still not said a word; it was beginning to scare Lizzie. She wanted to tell him to say something, but she kept talking; if only to fill the overwhelming silence.  
  
"Please don't hate me Gordo…or Emily, it's not her fault! It's my fault, I lied." Once again Lizzie could barely speak she was crying so hard, it was becoming hard to breathe. The night fog began to close in around her and a feeling of claustrophobia set in. What had seemed like a dream began to reveal itself for the nightmare that it was slowly becoming.  
  
" I lied to you, and to my parents and to Matt and to most of my friends… I lied…I lied to Emily, my own daughter; I'm her mother, she should be able to trust me, but I LIED, I LIED!" Her mouth was becoming overwhelmingly dry despite the increasing moisture in the night air. "I'm sorry," she gasped, "I wish I could take it back Gordo, I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry." Lizzie had to stop; she was almost choking on the sobs.   
  
Gordo finally did something; he put his hand on her shoulder. His blue eyes were now just blue, but very distant. He looked ready to speak. Would he yell...scream? Lizzie braced herself for whatever would happen. The thunder became loud again; the storms were coming back. He opened his mouth.  
  
"Mommy, mommy I'm scared!"  
  
"What why…" Lizzie's mind began to race. "Gordo!?...."  
  
"Mommy please wake up!"   
  
Suddenly Lizzie shot straight up in bed and found herself staring into, not Gordo's blue eyes, but Emily's. She looked at the clock; it read 3:45am.  
  
"What…" Lizzie gasped trying desperately to breathe and realizing that tears were streaming down her face. It was only a dream.  
  
"Mommy the thunder scared me and you were crying … and you wouldn't wake up." Emily began to cry as well; it snapped Lizzie back to reality.  
  
"Its okay baby, come here" Lizzie opened her arms and her little girl crawled into them. Lizzie may have been comforting Emily but in many ways Emily was comforting Lizzie just as much; soon both had stopped crying.   
  
"Mommy, are you sad?" Emily whispered, "You were crying and saying 'I'm sorry'."  
  
Lizzie cringed at the thought of the dream; it had seemed so real.  
  
"It was just a bad dream, sweetheart, I'm fine."  
  
"Were there witches and ghosts?" Emily looked up at her with big questioning blue eyes.  
  
Lizzie shook her head. "Nope, just a silly dream, all better." That was a lie but Lizzie had scared her daughter enough for one night. Emily nodded and laid her head against her mothers' chest. Lizzie rocked her gently for a few moments, humming softly and before long the little girl had fallen back to sleep.   
  
Sleep didn't come again to Lizzie that night; the dream haunted her. She had spent so many years being angry with Gordo, and convincing herself that she had done the right thing, that she had never stopped to really think about what she had done. She had lied, and she knew that she was going to have to suffer the consequences. She was also faced with her resurfacing feelings for Gordo; as angry with him as she had been these last few years, deep in her heart she knew she still loved him. She knew that she wanted him to love her back. What if her lie had completely messed that up?   
  
A/N: Please don't hate me for this chapter; I was trying to show the beginnings of internal conflict, and Lizzie realizing the full impact of what she had done. It will come out to Gordo soon, not next chapter, probably the next. 


	6. Going home and facing the music Part1

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews for the last chapter, I was a little nervous about that one! Sorry it took so long to upload, slight case of writers block, plus a very busy schedule. I've started the next part, so hopefully this weekend it will be up.  
  
Chapter 6- Going Home (and facing the music)-Part 1  
  
It's funny how plans change. David Gordon had planned to sleep until noon and then maybe catch a movie. He still had a few days to relax before his personal judgment day, also known as the reunion. He had fallen asleep on the couch, again, with the television on, again. And what is to be expected, the 2 o'clock rainbow flashed on the TV screen, accompanied by that high frequency hum. He had been too sleepy to do more than grab the remote and flip the power off. Before the screen went blank and the room went dark, he saw their picture again.  
  
As he lay on the couch, thoughts began to creep into his head. Thirty minutes later he was still awake and becoming more awake with every passing minute. She had snuck into his head and now she was all he could think about.   
  
This had happened to him before; all throughout Jr high. There had been many sleepless nights when he could not stop thinking about her. He would lay in bed thinking about a test or something of that nature, when she would somehow get into his thoughts. He would begin thinking about something that she had done or said during the day. He would think about how she would react if she ever found out the truth about how he felt about her. Before long, it would be time to get up for school.  
  
As nice as thinking about her had made him feel, it was a horrible feeling as well. He felt so close to her, but at the same time he felt so alone. Alone was how he felt tonight.   
  
By 3am, he began to really question why he had ever left her in the first place. Something didn't seem right.   
  
I left her to make a movie?  
  
When they first started to date, those sleepless nights stopped. He no longer felt alone. So why would he leave the one person capable of making him feel so complete? She had been there for him always and he had still left her. A growing ache began to fill his heart and there it was, just like in Jr high, he knew that he was still in love with her.   
  
He had spent the last six years in denial and now, all of a sudden, all he could think about was how badly he needed to see her again. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her and how much he needed to be by her side, now and forever.   
  
By 4am the room had begun to shrink and the tell tale picture began to haunt him more; he made his escape to beach. The dull roar of the waves hitting the beach was comforting.   
  
These emotions, he thought while digging his toes in the sand, were like a volcano. He had hid them away for so many years that they had built up and were ready for something to trigger them. A late night glimpse of their picture had become that something and he felt like they might be to much to handle if he didn't do something soon. He realized that he needed to leave; today. Although he did not know for sure that she would be in Hillridge, he had a strong feeling that he needed to be there as soon as possible. He knew where her parents lived and he would camp out on the front lawn, if he had to, until she showed up.  
  
A few early morning seagulls made their way over head.   
  
Just a few days ago, his main concern had been just appologizing to her. Now he knew that could never be enough; he knew he could never be happy until they were together again. The whole world could fade away and it would be just the two of them; forever.  
  
Five o'clock passed by unnoticed as Gordo built up the courage; the whole situation was a risk. In the back of his mind he knew that it was not a perfect senario. Afterall, maybe she could never forgive him or maybe she could be married or maybe... Of course there was always the possibility that she wanted to be with him just as much as he wanted to be with her; even if she missed him only a fraction of how much he was missing her now, he knew they would be together. As long as there was a chance.  
  
*  
  
"So, he called you mommy? Ew." Miranda winced slightly as she pulled yet another suitcase out of the trunk of Larry's BMW and set it on the curb in front of the Delta Terminal at Houston's Bush Intercontinental. "That sounds like a pretty bad nightmare."  
  
"It was so horrible" Lizzie shuddered at the thought. "I just kept saying 'I'm sorry' and 'I lied'."   
  
"Well how did you wake up?"  
  
Lizzie motioned to the other side of the car where Larry was helping Emily finally get her backpack on right. "Emily woke me up, she was saying mommy, the thunder woke her up, and then I was crying in my sleep and it scared her…I felt so bad."  
  
Miranda smiled at her friend sympathetically, "Well she seems okay this morning, you on the other hand look terrible."  
  
"I couldn't go back to sleep, I just laid there wondering what I had gotten myself into. I even considered canceling the trip and just going back to Austin."  
  
"No Lizzie, it's time and you know it is, this…"  
  
"Okay mom, I'm ready." Emily bounced over and Miranda gave Lizzie a 'we'll finish this later look'. Miranda nodded.  
  
"Alright sweetie, go stand on the curb, while I finish getting my things." Emily did her best imitation of a plane, making a whirring sound, and glided gracefully towards the curb. Lizzie smiled her first real smile of the day. Emily had a soothing effect on her in that way. It was nice to know that even though Gordo had left her, a part of him had been with her through the tough times; especially last night.   
  
Having a clear head would be important for the next few days. Lizzie had to keep her mind on all the little details; luggage, checking their bags, and most importantly not loosing the little five-year-old. She and Emily had flown on more than one occasion and as unlikely as loosing her seemed, she always had scenes from Home Alone 2 haunting her as they walked through airport terminals. Of course she also wondered what chance two criminals would have against the little girl.  
  
"Well that's the last of mine and Emily's things," Lizzie announced closing the trunk.   
  
"You'd think you were moving instead of visiting for two weeks," Larry observed noting the rather large pile of suitcases assembled by the car.  
  
"Two and a HALF weeks," Lizzie protested, "Larry there are many variables at work when packing. It could rain, or be cold, or you could spill something, or just not be in the mood for what you packed."  
  
"Lizzie, you'll be at your parents house, there is a washing machine, right? You'll be in a town with stores, right? So the problem is…?" Larry had had this argument on many occasions with Miranda and he was determined to win it, at least once.  
  
"Look Larry, not all of us like wearing the same shirt EVERY day!"  
  
"First of all, that was a LONG time ago and secondly, it was not a shirt, it was a polo; I had several…besides, last night you said that you thought the polo's had so much character and…"  
  
"Break it up you two," Miranda barked coming up behind them, "we have a plane to catch!" Lizzie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.  
  
"She's right, thanks for the ride Larry."   
  
She reached up to give him a quick hug and when she pulled away he stopped her for a moment and said quietly. "Lizzie, I just wanted to tell you that I'm one hundred percent behind whatever you decide to do." Lizzie smiled. With little family near her for so many years, Larry had become like a sweet, overprotective, big brother.   
  
"Thanks Tudgeman, that means a lot."  
  
He smiled and nodded before calling out to Emily.  
  
"Come and give me a hug Miss Em!"  
  
She ran to him and threw her arms around his waist.  
  
"When are you coming to California Uncle Tudge?"  
  
"In a couple days, I have some work to finish up."  
  
Emily's smile dropped to a frown. "I don't like grown up work; mommy always has to work and I have to stay in the daycare. You have to work, and I don't get to see you."   
  
"Work isn't always fun, but that's how I get money to buy food, pay for the house and most importantly, it's how I can buy you presents during the year!"  
  
That got a giggle from the little girl. "I do like presents!"  
  
"I like presents too," Miranda announced, tapping the hood of the BMW.  
  
Larry shook his head and looked back at Emily. "Keep an eye on your mom and Aunt Randa, they can get a little crazy."   
  
Emily nodded her head solemnly. "Specially after a few margaritas"  
  
"Hey" Lizzie and Miranda cried out in unison.  
  
"That was one time," Miranda insisted.  
  
"And all we did was sit up and giggle for a couple hours," Lizzie added defensively.  
  
Larry smiled tolerantly at Lizzie and Miranda and whispered to Emily. "Yup, they're a handful."   
  
As Emily skipped back to Lizzie, Miranda came up behind Larry and put her arms around him. "So we're a… handful was it?"  
  
He smiled as he turned around to face her. "Only on your good days!"  
  
"I'll miss you."  
  
He pulled her close to him and held her tight. "I'll miss you too, it's only for a few days. Anyways, you'll get out there and forget all about me and…" His voice trailed of as she brought her lips to his. For a moment they forgot everything, they were alone, they were..  
  
"Ewwww mommy," the little girl squealed, "they're kissing!"   
  
"I know it's gross," Lizzie played along, "they're going to get cooties!"  
  
They both blushed but Miranda defended them to their attackers.  
  
"Lizzie, have you ever heard of 'a moment'?"  
  
"Miranda, have you ever heard of 'a hotel room'?"  
  
Ahem, Larry cleared his throat and motioned to Emily who was hanging on to every word.  
  
Lizzie glanced down as well and cringed slightly. "Come on Em, lets go get in line to check our bags and let them have their 'moment'."  
  
As the two made their way inside dragging their bags Larry and Miranda heard Emily ask, "Mommy, why do they need a hotel room? I thought we were all staying at Grandma and Grandpas?"  
  
Miranda turned to Larry laughing, "She should have fun explaining that one!"  
  
"Yeah, that little girl is so observant," Larry paused before adding, "reminds me of her father." The two stood there lost in thought for a moment, staring at each other. Larry finally spoke again, "Make sure that you keep Lizzie's courage up."  
  
"Yes sir," Miranda replied, "but what about us.... how is your courage… I mean are we still on?"  
  
Larry winked at her, "You'd better get inside before they leave without you."   
  
Miranda turned to go inside but was stopped as she heard Larry call out from behind, "Make sure you tell Lizzie that my cootie vaccination shots are current!" Miranda laughed as she saw people, at the curbside drop-off, stop what they were doing to give Larry one collective strange look.   
  
"Yes, that's right people, my name is Larry and I am cootie free! Lets all have a look!"   
  
*  
  
His bags were already packed and sitting by the front door. He took a couple of deep breaths and sat motionless with his face between his hands. To someone watching him, they might say he looked like a praying statue. A silence echoed through the house. Finally his eyes opened and in a trance he picked up his keys and set out to make things right. 


	7. Going Home and Facing the Music Part 2

A/N: Sorry this is taking so long to post, I've been busy. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, they totally make my day! This is kind of a filler chapter but I promise I know where I'm going with this! Thanks for sticking with it!  
  
Chapter 7- Going home (and facing the music) Part-2  
  
"Sweetie, Miranda is staying with us"  
  
"But you said she needs a hotel room!"  
  
"I didn't mean that, I… I was making a grown-up joke"  
  
Emily thought about this for a moment. "Mommy, I don't think you told it right," she paused and then got a big smile on her face, "I have a joke!" She took a deep breath and began, "The king of Norway…"   
  
Lizzie wasn't really paying that much attention. The ticket-agent had called them up and Lizzie was trying to sort through what was being checked and what was carry on. Larry was right, they HAD packed a lot. She had just been handed the two boarding passes when she happened to tune back in for the punch line to Emily's joke.  
  
"…I thought he said he was a moose!" With that the little girl broke out into hysterical giggles. Lizzie stopped for a moment: hadn't she heard that somewhere before?  
  
"Em, where'd you hear that?"  
  
"Hey, am I interrupting anything?" Miranda asked walking up to them; a huge grin on her face. She noticed the odd expression on Lizzie's face, but Lizzie just shook her head.  
  
"No, we just got our boarding passes, and...now we're just waiting for you." Lizzie gave a half-hearted attempt at getting the last few words out.   
  
"Last night is still bothering you, isn't it?" Miranda asked quietly.  
  
Lizzie motioned toward Emily. "Later, okay? I don't want to talk about it in front of you-know-who." Miranda nodded and went to check in.  
  
--  
  
Fifteen minutes later the trio had made it through security, and had an hour until they could begin pre-boarding. Waiting was not Emily's strong points and she began to fidget and whine.  
  
"Mommy, I'm B-O-O-R-D...BORED!" Emily was getting better at spelling..  
  
"I'm sorry sweetie, how about if I let you play your Disney game on my laptop as soon as I check my email."  
  
"Okay," Emily agreed, "but hurry!"  
  
Lizzie quickly signed into her email, making sure to ignore all the work related messages; 33 and counting. Among the mess, there was one from Matt. MDogg@FBI.gov.us. Lizzie still could not believe that her younger brother was an FBI agent, or that his best friend, Lanny, and girlfriend, Melina, were FBI agents as well. She had always figured that Matt and the FBI would cross paths one day, but more in the form of him being most wanted or something like that. Anyways, it seemed like a natural progression after his senior year in high school. Lizzie had never gotten all the details, however, she knew that it involved Matt, Melina and Lanny hacking into the school computer system.   
  
"Hey look, here's one from Uncle Matt." Lizzie read on, "he and Melina are going to meet us at the airport."  
  
"Are they 'on-again'" Emily asked curiously. Lizzie eyeballed the little girl for a minute. Emily really did pick up on a lot of 'adultisms' and it made Lizzie wonder what else she had picked up on.  
  
"Looks that way." Lizzie replied, looking back at the message.  
  
Matt and Melina were the quintessential on-again/off-again couple. They would be madly in love until one argument and then they were broken up. A break up could last anywhere from 15 minutes to six months, but in the end they always ended up together; at least until the next break-up. The funny part was how they used their FBI connections to spy on each other during break ups, trying to see if either one had been replaced. Lanny, who had taps on both of their phones, would often email Lizzie with the latest gossip.  
  
"Anyways, they'll meet us at baggage claim." Lizzie closed out her email, but noticed as she logged off that she now had 35 work related emails. She sighed internally as she popped in a Disney spelling game.  
  
"Okay Em, here you go."  
  
Lizzie got Emily settled in her seat with the laptop and then turned to Miranda who had just returned from the bathroom. "So Matt and Melina are going to meet us at the airport."  
  
"Melina?" Miranda repeated looking a tiny bit uncomfortable.  
  
Lizzie burst out laughing. "Oh that's right 'rebound girl,' you tried to steal her man! You better watch it, she's FBI now and she could have you barred from the country."  
  
"Rebound girl?!" How do you know about that? I swore Gordo to secrecy!"   
  
Lizzie shrugged, "I dunno, it just came out once, I think we were in high school. Anyways, I'm not joking about Melina, she's kind of territorial."  
  
Miranda shook her head, disregarding Lizzie's last comment. "Speaking of Gordo… what was up with that dream last night?"  
  
Lizzie shook her head. "I don't know, but it really made me think. I lied Miranda, I've lied for the past six years. He's going to hate me."  
  
Miranda smiled sympathetically. "Don't think that way Lizzie, he'll be angry for a while, but hopefully he'll see past all that and see… his daughter. How could he not love her? I mean she has Larry wrapped around her little finger just imagine what she could do to Gor...."  
  
Both women snuck a quick peek two chairs over to where Emily was. She was highly engrossed in her Disney computer game, and had the tip of her tongue peeking out the corner of her mouth.  
  
"I hope so, but he's going to be so angry... at me." Lizzie looked back at Emily for a second before continuing, "I don't blame him. I thought that I could handle him being mad at me, but as my dream so clearly demonstrated, I've not gotten over him as well as I thought I had. I knew that sooner or later we'd have to meet, and I figured that when that day came I'd have a better understanding of how I felt about him. Now there has been a new element introduced," tears began to fill Lizzie's eyes, "and I don't know if my feelings for him will affect my judgment when I confront him. I just don't want to add more fuel to this...It's not fair to Gordo, it's not fair to Emily...It's not fair to ME...why did he have to leave in the first place..?"   
  
Lizzie stopped, she knew that if she kept on, she might not be able to stop. Letting these feelings out in the airport and in front of Emily, might not be a wise choice. There were a long few minutes of silence. The noises of the airport droned on around them, but neither really heard them; they were too lost in their own thoughts.   
  
"Do you know when you're going to tell him?" Miranda finally asked  
  
Lizzie shook her head slowly "No. I want to do it as soon as I can though, get it over with; MAYBE, if it goes well, he can have some alone time with Emily."  
  
Miranda nodded and glanced down at her watch, still another half hour before they boarded. She looked around and started to feel antsy, she had her own plans to get started on, but she needed to wait until they got to Hillridge. She was just about to get up and call Larry, he'd be at work by now, just to say hi when Lizzie spoke again.  
  
"Hey, Miranda, is there something going on I should know about?"  
  
Miranda looked at her strangely, "No, why?"  
  
Lizzie shrugged, "I don't know, but you and Larry were both acting weird today. Kind of like when you first started going out, all googly-eyed."   
  
Miranda looked down, her cheeks getting faintly pink. "I don't know… its been really good lately." Lizzie smiled at her friend, at least someone's love life was going well.  
  
"I didn't hear you two go to bed until pretty late, what were you guys doing... Wait! Do I want to know?'  
  
Miranda gave her a look before answering. "We were just talking."  
  
"About…?" Lizzie prompted; she could tell that Miranda was becoming uncomfortable.  
  
"About...Well it was a J-K conversation."  
  
"J-K conversation?"  
  
"Yeah, you can get the 'L' out of our business."   
  
Miranda laughed as Lizzie's face grew a scrunched 'are you 12-years-old' look. Lizzie opened her mouth to protest when a voice from above stopped her. "Attention passengers, Delta, flight 1276 for Denver will now begin pre boarding. Anyone needing assistance or anyone traveling with small children may begin boarding at this time."  
  
"C'mon Em, that's us" Lizzie announced standing up, "lets put the computer up for a while."  
  
"I thought we were going to California, not that other place." Emily looked around confused.  
  
"We're flying to Denver and getting on another plane that will take us to LA." Lizzie explained as she did a quick bag count to make sure they had everything.  
  
"Oh. Can I sit next to Aunt Randa?"  
  
"You better sit next me!" Miranda said coming over to take her hand. "I might get lonely!"  
  
"People, can we please move this traveling circus on to the plane!" Lizzie was on about three hours of sleep and one step closer to having to face literally her worst nightmare. Seating arrangements were not on the top of her worry list.  
  
"My someone's crabby today," Miranda commented; this caused Emily to break into the giggles. Had it not been for the three airline personnel and two police officers Lizzie probably would have given Miranda several pieces of her mind, but instead she handed hers and Emily's boarding passes to the flight attendant and stepped on the plane.  
  
--  
  
Lizzie had never been one to sleep on planes, it just wasn't very comfortable and she figured why pay 600 dollars to take a nap? However, due to her current emotional state, she had no trouble passing out as soon as the plane took off and letting Miranda entertain Emily for a while!   
  
---  
  
Emily spent the first few minutes getting settled into her seat, she sat Ben up next to her and looked through her new coloring book, deciding which picture to work on first. Aunt Randa had pulled out a thick book and was flipping through it, and Emily looked over at her mother to ask if she could get her book from Lizzie's bag when she noticed that her mom had fallen asleep. Emily considered waking her for a minute, she really wanted to look at her book, but decided it wasn't a good idea, mommy had looked so tired the last couple days, and she had woken Emily up several times the night before tossing in bed. It made Emily a little scared, but soon they would be with Grandma and Grandpa in California, so everything would be okay. Grandma would take care of them, she always did. She came to Austin to see them a lot, and Emily loved her visits. She never had to go to daycare and Grandma would make them yummy food; mommy would always seem a little happier, not so worried. Just thinking about it made Emily feel better, Grandma would make everything okay.  
  
Emily looked up again at Aunt Randa, she was so pretty, and so funny she could always make mommy laugh, so could Uncle Tudge, and Emily wished he had come with them on the plane. Last time they had all flown together Uncle Tudge had pretended to be Captain Kirk from Star Trek and had said they were attacking the Klingons. Emily didn't know what any of that was but Uncle Tudge had been so funny! Emily loved Uncle Tudge so much, whenever they went to Houston to visit, Uncle Tudge would take her someplace neat; to NASA, where he worked, or a cool museum where you could play, or a fun park. Emily hoped he was coming to California soon.  
  
"Hey Aunt Randa?"   
  
"Yeah Em." Miranda glanced up out of her book.  
  
"When is Uncle Tudge coming to California?"  
  
"He's coming Sunday afternoon, that's in three days"  
  
Emily nodded and Miranda went back to her book. Emily started to feel bored, she looked around for the stewardess, usually they brought them drinks and mommy usually let her get a coke when they were on the plane. The stewardess was still at the back of the plane though, so it would be awhile. Emily snuck a peek over at her mom, to make sure she was really asleep; there was something she wanted to ask Aunt Randa, but she didn't want her mom to hear her. Yup, she was asleep, drooling a little bit too, ewww!!  
  
"Aunt Randa, can I ask you a question, its very important"  
  
This got Miranda's attention and she put her book down to look at Emily.  
  
"Of course you can, what's up?"  
  
Emily struggled for a moment trying to decide if she should ask.  
  
"Do you know who Gordo is?"  
  
Miranda stared at the little girl, completely shocked. She tried to think of an answer, but stumbled over the words.  
  
"That…That's a silly name, where did you hear that?"  
  
Emily shrugged and looked uncomfortable. "Mommy kept saying that name last night, she's said it before in her sleep, but I never asked."  
  
"You should probably ask your mom that question, she should be the one to answer it."  
  
"Oh." Emily nodded her head "Okay, I just thought you might know"  
  
"Sorry sweetie." Miranda smiled at her, but an uncomfortable silence set in. Luckily the flight attendant came by with the drinks and that gave them something to focus on.   
  
An hour later Lizzie awoke with a start, she wasn't really sure what had awakened her; probably that stupid, creaky, beverage cart. She shifted up a bit, trying to un-kink herself, sleeping sitting up, was far from comfortable. She noticed, embarrassedly, that there was a nice puddle of drool on her cheek.  
  
For a brief moment she remembered all the times she had flown with Gordo, he had always been the perfect pillow. Now, Lizzie realized as she looked down at the curly blonde head snuggled into her side, she was the perfect pillow. Lizzie glanced over at Miranda who was flipping aimlessly through a magazine looking a bit worried,  
  
"Miranda." Lizzie whispered not wanting to wake Emily.  
  
Miranda jumped and gave a bewildered look around. "Lizzie, you startled me!"  
  
"Sorry, how long has she been out?"  
  
"Only about fifteen minutes, she had a juice box and some cookies, and the next thing I knew, she was asleep. I guess the stewardess must have put something in the juice..."  
  
Lizzie nodded and was about to ask Miranda if she knew when they would be landing in Denver, when Miranda told Lizzie something that made her go cold.  
  
"Emily asked me who Gordo was."  
  
Lizzie froze in place. She must have heard that wrong, Emily really had asked who Zorro was, she'd probably seen a commercial or something, that was a feasible explanation…  
  
"Lizzie!" Miranda repeated again sharply, "Did you hear me? Emily asked who GORDO was."  
  
Why did Miranda keep saying Gordo, she needed to keep her voice down. "What are you talking about?" Lizzie finally sputtered  
  
Miranda sighed and rolled her eyes. "For the last time: Emily, YOUR DAUGHTER, asked me, Miranda, YOUR FRIEND, if I knew who Gordo, HER FATHER, that she doesn't know about, is."  
  
Lizzie still looked completely dumbfounded. "Well, why? Did she say why, or where or who…" Lizzie was beginning to border on hysterics and Emily stirred gently in her sleep reminding Lizzie to keep it down.  
  
"She heard you call his name out in your sleep last night. She said she's heard you say it before, in your sleep,"  
  
Lizzie couldn't believe what she was hearing, what else had she said? "What did you tell her?" Lizzie demanded, silently praying that Miranda had covered for her.  
  
"I told her that she should ask you."  
  
Lizzie leaned back in her seat and covered her eyes. What had she done? What was she going to do? How would-  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen we are beginning our descent into Denver at this time so the fasten seat belt sign has been turned back on and we ask that everyone please return to your seats and put them in their upright and locked positions Thank you!"  
  
Lizzie took a moment from her pity party to briefly wonder why the seats had to be upright for landing. If the plane burst into flames and fell from the sky, would her seat being 'upright' really save her? This question had plagued her for years and she never could form a reasonable answer. Maybe she should ask Larry sometime, he knew lots of bizarre useless bits of knowledge, he should know this due to his degree in aerospace engineering. Gordo knew weird bits of trivia as well…wait Gordo…Emily… oh right, hysterical pity party.   
  
How would she explain all this to Emily? Good grief, with all this she might as well just sign the poor kid up for lifetime therapy, she was probably going to need it by the time they left in a couple weeks. Lizzie hadn't even considered all that yet, how would Emily feel when, and if, she met her father after all this time, and then suddenly they're back in Austin without him. Lizzie was gearing up for an internal world war when Emily rubbed her eyes and sat up abruptly.  
  
"Are we there yet" she asked sleepily gazing around her at all the people in their safe 'upright positions'.  
  
"Almost sweetie." Lizzie brushed a few stray curls from Emily's face and kissed her forehead. "I love you Em, don't forget that." Emily smiled up at Lizzie and snuggled against her, Lizzie felt a little better already. Miranda was looking at her a bit strangely but didn't say anything and a couple minutes later they landed in Denver.   
  
--  
  
Luckily it was a short lay over in Denver and the flight from Denver to LA went fairly quickly. Lizzie kept Emily busy coloring and reading books, hoping to keep her from bringing up who Gordo was. It worked and before long they were stepping off the plane at LAX and heading towards baggage claim keeping their eyes peeled for Matt and Melina. It took forever to get all of their bags accounted and for and by the time they had there was still no sign of Matt; Lizzie let out an exasperated sigh.  
  
"Where is he? You'd think he'd have gained a little responsibility by now!"  
  
Just then a hand grabbed her arm. "Excuse me ma'am, but I believe you're wanted in three states for various crimes against siblings. You'll need to come with me."  
  
"Matt!" Lizzie exclaimed turning around to face her little brother, who was now a good ten inches taller than her.  
  
"Hey sis, miss me?"  
  
"Please, me, miss a spiky haired weasel like you?… Yeah, maybe a little bit!"  
  
They both laughed as Lizzie pulled him for a hug. "What took you so long?"  
  
"We would have been here sooner, but SOMEONE had to stop and torment the airport security guards."  
  
"I did not!" A tall blonde was walking toward them, a small smirk playing on her face. "I was just having some fun with those rent-a-cops!"  
  
"You made one of them cry!" Matt accused. Melina rolled her eyes in disgust.  
  
"He was a pu...wuss. He got all defensive, trying to threaten me with a full body cavity search. When I flashed my badge in his face I could swear he wet his pants!"  
  
"Hey, watch it!" Lizzie motioned towards Emily who had been carefully observing the conversation.  
  
"Hey Emily!" Matt knelt down to give his only niece a hug, and Emily returned it somewhat shyly. Emily was never quite sure what to think of Uncle Matt, he was pretty funny and he showed her all kinds of cool things, but when she did them she usually got in trouble. She wasn't too sure of Melina either, Melina was always nice to her but she and Uncle Matt made fun of each other a lot; it was kind of weird. Emily retreated back to Miranda who was watching the whole scene with an amused smile on her face.  
  
"Hey Matt, Melina," Miranda spoke up, "its good to see you again."  
  
"Miranda!" Matts face lit up as he went to give her a big hug. "How are you? finally dump that NASA nerd?!!"  
  
"Yes," Melina continued walking over them gazing at Miranda frostily. "Where is your boyfriend, I mean fiancée? Aren't you guys technically married, I mean doesn't Texas have something called common law?"  
  
"He's working, but he'll be here on Sunday" Miranda returned the cold gaze and added a little smile making sure to briefly wave the respectably sized diamond perched on her left hand around for all to see.  
  
"WOW!" Matt exclaimed leaning over for a better look at the rock "Not bad Tudgeman!" Melina yanked on his arm.  
  
"C'mon Matt let's go get the luggage in the car."  
  
Lizzie caught Miranda's eye, as they picked up their bags to follow Matt and Melina. Lizzie looked as though she were going to reassure Miranda as she opened her mouth.   
  
"Rebound girl." 


	8. The Music

A/N; I bring up several different episodes in this chapter, so hopefully everyone will catch them! Thanks for all the reviews, they're graet!  
  
Disclaimer: I forgot this last time, but I do not own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does.  
  
Chapter8 – The Music  
  
Ten minutes later they were all squished in Matt's souped up 1980's Ford Bronco, speeding along the LA freeway, weaving in and out of traffic. Lizzie realized that she did not miss Los Angeles as much as she thought. She had grown used to the rolling green hills and the blue skies of Austin. LA just looked dirty and smoggy; she had to admit however that it wasn't quite as hot and the air wasn't nearly as humid. Hillridge was nice though, tree lined streets, pretty parks and friendly people; a great place to grow up.   
  
Lizzie's thoughts were interrupted when she was thrown against the interior of the car as Matt changed lanes yet again. "Matt, What are you doing, trying to get us all killed?"   
  
"No, Lanny needed to work on his tailing skills, so he's trying to follow us and I'm trying to loose him."  
  
"Well could you try loosing him when my five year old daughter isn't in the car!"  
  
"Too late." Matt laughed. "We did it Melina, we lost him…"   
  
A ringing cell phone interrupted Matt.  
  
"...and that would be Lanny. Hey Lanny, I know I'm the best...good try old bean...yeah we'll see you in Hillridge."  
  
Lizzie glanced down at Emily who had been surprisingly quite during the whole ordeal and whispered to her, "Don't worry Em, we're almost there."   
  
Emily giggled,"That was fun mommy!"  
  
Oh lord, Lizzie thought, it runs in the family.  
  
--  
  
Fifteen minutes later they pulled up to her parents house. It looked exactly the same as it had when Lizzie was growing up. It had a nice feeling, a homey feeling, one of consistency and stability. Well, except for the door; Lizzie noticed it had been painted yet again.  
  
Lizzie had just gotten lifted Emily out of the car and was grabbing a few bags when the door opened and her parents came running out. "GRANDMA…GRANDPA!" Emily shrieked flying past Lizzie and Miranda straight to Jo McGuire's waiting arms. Lizzie's dad was right behind her, the two of them practically smothering Emily in hugs and kisses; Emily was loving every second of it.  
  
"Let's get the bags in the house." Lizzie motioned to Miranda and Matt and Melina.  
  
"Don't you want to say hi to your parents?" Melina asked.  
  
"They won't remember I'm here for about another five minutes." Lizzie grinned at her daughter who was smushed between her grandparents; she had a huge smile on her face.   
  
"Lets just get this stuff inside."  
  
--  
  
Lizzie's parents did remember she was there, about five minutes later they came rushing in to wrap her in a huge hug.  
  
"Okay mom…dad… I can't breathe."   
  
"Oops, sorry sweetie," her mom stepped back to get a better look at her daughter. "I've missed you so much! You too Miranda, come give me a hug!"  
  
"Oh!" Miranda gasped as she too was pulled in to a tight hug, "nice to see you too Mrs. McGuire."   
  
Lizzie's dad finally stepped in to save them. "Jo, Honey why don't we let the girls get settled, they've been traveling all day."  
  
"Ok, ok," Jo agreed. "Well let's see...Lizzie and Emily will be in Lizzie's old room and Miranda will be in Matt's old room, I mean, the office."  
  
"Thanks for letting me stay here for a couple days Mrs. McGuire. With my parents in Mexico for the summer and Larry not coming out for a few days I didn't want to stay at my parents empty house all alone."  
  
"We love having you here," Jo assured her.  
  
"Yeah," Sam added "its almost like old times. The gang's all here, well except for Gor-"  
  
"Ahem, Sam." Jo interrupted nudging him gently.   
  
"What?" He looked over at his wife confused and she discreetly shook her head. Finally Sam clued in, "Whoa, gotcha..." He then proceeded to give Jo his best 'sly wink'. Jo shook her head, his best sly wink looked more like an awkward twitch to her, and changed the subject.  
  
"How about we get you guys unpacked?"  
  
--  
  
Lizzie looked around her room; it looked almost the same as it had when she graduated. Everywhere she looked Lizzie saw shadows of her former self...of her former life. There was the window that Gordo had helped her sneak back in after her and Miranda had chased Matt and Lanny all over town when they smashed her fathers' beloved Walter Peyton football. They had managed to get him a Dick Butkus football instead, but Lizzie had always felt bad; a couple years back Lizzie had gotten him a new official one for Christmas. That was also the window that she and Gordo had snuk in and out of for midnights trysts once they had became a couple.   
  
Lizzie still remembered the last time he had snuck in, Christmas Eve their second year of college. They were home for the holidays and staying with their respective families, neither set of parents knew that they had been living together for a year. Gordo had snuck in a little before midnight. She remembered how he seemed to be very nervous, pacing back and forth. She remembered feeling a little scared, his pacing had made her more than a little nervous. The next thing she knew, he had gotten on one knee and proposed. Lizzie didn't think she had ever been happier; it had been so perfect. Well, perfect until Lizzie's tears of joy had awakened her parents and brought them rushing into the room. They had expected to find an escaped convict holding her hostage. Needless to say they had been more than a little shocked to find just Gordo in Lizzie's room, down on one knee no less.   
  
--  
  
"What are you doing in my little girls room!?" Her father had gone crazy at the site of a boy in her room; He was blind to the fact that it was innocent Gordo. Lizzie's mom, upon surveying the scene, had realized what was going on  
  
" Sam, Don't you see what's going on?" Tears started to well up in her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I see that this boy is in our daughters' room!"  
  
"SAM, that boy, is Gordo, who we've known his entire life, AND he's proposing to our daughter!"   
  
Sam had reacted with a slight twitch in his face, looking as though he too might cry or become even more enraged.  
  
"Sam, this is a very important event in our daughter's life and you need to respect their privacy." She had turned back to Lizzie, "Oh you two…I always knew that you guys were made for each other and…"  
  
"Mom!" Lizzie had finally broken, "could you at least let him start?"  
  
"Oh yes!…SORRYSORRYSORRY, c'mon Sam." Jo grabbed him by the ear as they both made their exit from the doorway.  
  
"We'll be back in two minutes." Sam called out from down the hall. "No funny business!"  
  
--  
  
"Hey." A voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see Miranda and her mom standing in the doorway.  
  
"Hey guys." Lizzie tried to smile and look cheerful, "You can come in, I was just relaxing for a second trying to make myself unpack."  
  
"So." Her mom walked in to the room and perched herself on one of Lizzie's chairs, "Ten year high school reunion, huh, pretty big!"   
  
Lizzie smiled, "Yeah it s pretty crazy to think its been ten years."   
  
Miranda plopped down on the bed next to Lizzie and joined in. "It'll be weird seeing everyone. However, it'll be fun to see how the past ten years have treated everyone."  
  
"I use to feel old thinking about you guys graduating from high school. Now I feel really old when I think that it's been ten years. Of course I also feel old when I haven't taken my hormone pills." Lizzie rolled her eyes. Even though she worked for a magazine that talked about such issues, she still wasn't comfortable having her mom bring it up. "When is the reunion?" her mother asked, trying to change the subject.  
  
"Next Friday and Saturday," Lizzie answered.  
  
"Well I'm glad you decided to come early and stay a while, you haven't come home for more than a couple days since… well, since Emily was born." Her mom emphasized the last part and Lizzie tried to keep herself from squirming. She looked helplessly at Miranda using her eyes to beg for a topic change.   
  
Miranda thought for a second. "So where is Emily?"  
  
Lizzie was about to get mad about her choice of 'topic change' when she realized that she hadn't seen Emily since they got there.  
  
"Yeah, where is Emily?" Lizzie echoed.  
  
"She's downstairs watching a movie with Matt and Melina." Lizzie's mom stood up, "I better go help your dad, he's barbequing tonight."  
  
"Barbequing! Ah, someone else cooking a nice meal." Miranda licked her lips, "My mouth is already watering." Normally, Miranda was the cook in the Sanchez/Tudgeman house; as much as she liked cooking, she was glad that someone else would be doing the dirty work tonight.   
  
"I guess I better unpack." Lizzie admitted, making a half-hearted attempt to stand up.  
  
"Hey Lizzie," Miranda spoke up, "how come your room looks exactly like it did when you lived here, but Matt's room, is an office, guest room? Isn't he mad?"  
  
"No." Lizzie laughed; this was one McGuire event that she wished she had been there for. "His junior year of high school he needed a hefty sum of money and he was flat broke. Mom and Dad told him to get a job, however, he needed the money quick because what he wanted was the Bronco that is presently in the driveway. The previous owner told Matt that he had five other people waiting to buy it."  
  
"So," she continued, " He sold all of his possessions, AGAIN to pay for it. Matt made quite a nice sum of money. His scheme was that he went door-to-door and told people that he was selling stuff for a charity and everyone gave him twice what the items were worth. A few weeks later, people noticed a cleaned up Bronco in the driveway."   
  
"Well," Lizzie took a breath. "It was a bad situation, people from the neighborhood demanded their money back and since Matt had spent it already, mom and dad had to pay everyone back, plus extra, so they wouldn't sue. My parents were so mad that they refused to pay to replace anything of his and decided to make it an office. They told him that he could sleep on the sofa bed in there for the rest of his high school career."  
  
"It backfired though," Jo sighed, heading for the door. "We put all of our new computer stuff in there. Matt started staying up all night, learning how to program computers and how to hack into other computers." She paused, and added, "international computers."  
  
Jo, shook her head at the thought of the situation, "Next, he taught Lanny and Melina how to infiltrate school databases and other technical stuff that I have no idea about. This led to their senior year stunt of hacking into the school server as well as school servers from around the nation. The next thing you know the FBI was at our door."  
  
"Yikes," Miranda showed a slight bit of concern for her 'former boyfriend'. "Was he in a lot of trouble?"  
  
"Well he would have been, the FBI had enough on him to send him to prison for quite a while, but they decided to use his 'talents' for something bigger. The 'Feds' made a deal that if he stopped the malicious hacking, and went to college, they would ignore his previous misdeeds and guarantee him a spot in the FBI Computer and Surveillance Department when he graduated. He did go to college and got a dual degree in Computer Information Technologies and Technology Communication Fabrication; again, technical stuff that I have no idea about."   
  
"What did he do to the school server?" Miranda asked.  
  
"Well," Jo replied, "We can't really talk about it, but lets say that it involved the faking of someone's death…and the memorial auditorium that the school presently has."  
  
Miranda shook her head in amazment.  
  
"I'm going to check on Emily, who wants to come with me?" Lizzie asked, and the other two followed her.  
  
"So what about Lanny and Melina," Miranda asked as they headed downstairs. "Did the FBI make the same deal with them?"  
  
"No," Jo answered, "Lanny at first went into LAPD, and became one of their best undercover men, and that's why the FBI recruited him, and Melina…" Jo voice trailed off. "Well they were really scared of her, and figured criminals would be even more scared in the interrogation process if she were there. Personally, I don't see why a criminal would be afraid of her, she is such a sweetheart."  
  
Miranda rolled her eyes.  
  
--  
  
They entered the family room to find Matt, Melina, Lanny, and Emily in a row on the couch staring at the TV.  
  
"What are you watching" Lizzie asked peering at the questionable images flashing on the screen.  
  
"Vesuvius 6...The Revenge of Old Smokey." Matt answered, never taking his eyes off the screen. "It's great, they have five hours of bonus footage, they even show the flying volcano's attacking the time traveling cavemen."  
  
"WHAT!" Lizzie exclaimed.  
  
Miranda chimed in, "Cool, I love that one, Not as much as Vesuvius 4, Children of the Ash, but still a classic."  
  
Lanny looked at Miranda.  
  
"You're right Lanny," Miranda agreed, "Vesuvius 3, Vesuvius versus Mount Etna, was brilliant until the end when that alien destroyed Vesuvius's mother."  
  
"Remember what that alien said to Vesuvius?" Miranda asked enthusiastically. "I'm gonna rip you a new gas-hole…"  
  
"Miranda!" Lizzie shot her a look. "Matt, Emily can't watch that, its rated R!"  
  
"So," Matt replied defiantly, "I seem to remember you breaking and entering the movie theater to see the first one. Do you know how many strings I had to pull for my colleagues not to arrest you."  
  
"Wha...?" Lizzie realized the absurdity of his last statment, but pleaded her case for the rest. "First of all, I was thirteen not five; Secondly, I did not actually get in to see it; and finally, Emily no more movie."  
  
"MO-OM," Emily whined, "I wanna see it!"  
  
"Why don't you come upstairs with me," Jo broke in, picking up the little girl. "I bought you some new books, we can read them together." She then looked over at Lizzie and mouthed, "And take a nap!" Lizzie smiled, loving her mother more than ever at that moment; Emily happily went with her grandmother, forgetting completely about Vesuvius.   
  
Lizzie considered sitting down to watch the movie, she was over 17 after all, but decided to go in the kitchen and get a snack instead. The only thing that she had eaten, today, was a few peanuts on the flight from Denver. After staring into the refrigerator for a few minutes Lizzie decided on some chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk, she settled on one of the bar stools around the island to enjoy. She found herself looking around the kitchen, once again ghosts of her past haunting her. She saw the exact place at the kitchen table where she had been sitting the night of the Spring Fling when Gordo had shown up with soda and mini doughnuts. Others had soon followed, but Gordo had been there first; he had been her Johnny on the spot, her knight in Old Navy apparel. Lizzie was making herself depressed. She glanced around trying to find something else to concentrate on when she noticed Matt wander in.  
  
"Hey Matt." Lizzie tried to sound upbeat. Matt didn't say anything, he just sat down next to her and took one of her cookies and began to nibble on it.  
  
"Need something Matt?" Lizzie tried again. Matt shrugged and looked around and then he looked her straight in the eye.  
  
"Staying for two whole weeks?"   
  
Lizzie eyed him strangely, what was he getting at? "Two and a half actually..." Matt nodded, "That's a long time."  
  
Lizzie nodded. He was up to something, but she couldn't figure out what.  
  
"Excited about your reunion?"  
  
Lizzie shrugged, she was really getting tired of that question. "I guess so."  
  
"You'll see a lot of people you haven't seen in a while." Okay this was weird, even for Matt.  
  
"Well that's the point of a reunion."  
  
"Ethan will be there huh?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
"Kate too?"  
  
"Kate never misses an opportunity to show off, so yeah, she'll probably be there."  
  
"Tudgeman going to make it?"  
  
"Yeah, he'll be here Sunday and he's staying until the next Friday, just like I am." Matt nodded and they fell into silence for a moment.   
  
"Will Gordo be there?" Lizzie stiffened at the mention of his name but she didn't say anything. "Yeah," Matt continued, "that'll be weird huh. I mean the two of you were almost married and then... he was gone.?"   
  
"What are you getting at Matt?" Lizzie was really starting to get irritated with this game of twenty questions. Well, at least Matt was the one grilling her, Melina would be a bit much for her to handle.   
  
"Nothing, nothing, I'm just saying that the two of you will have a lot to catch up on, he has his movies... you have your job... " Matt surveyed the room before continuing, "... his child."  
  
Lizzie tried to keep her best poker face, "What are you talking about Matt?" Her voice quivered just a little.   
  
Matt called her bluff and went for the win. "Look Lizzie, I have connections, know that Gordo is her father, plus I am not blind I can see the similarities."  
  
Lizzie, still not sure what to think, denied it. "Look Matt, I don't know what kind of 'connections' that you have, but they are wrong."  
  
Matt called Lizzie on her last statement. "Okay, I do have his phone number, so why don't we call Gordo and get his opinion."   
  
Lizzie eyed him carefully, this was an intricate game of cat and mouse that she was determined to win. She wasn't too sure about Matt and his connections; she was aware of this technique that Matt had used before to get information out of her.   
  
"Fine, call Gordo, what's he going to say? I found out I was pregnant after he left, he has no reason to think he would be the father."  
  
"The information that I have is public information. When Gordo sees it, he will know that it wasn't a coincidence. Emily is his daughter."  
  
Lizzie slumped in her chair. This was it, she thought, beaten by her little, baby, brother...again. "Okay, Matt, you win, but what do you want from me?"  
  
Matt paused before answering. "I just want you to be fair to Gordo...He has a right to konw. I mean, you're my sister and I have your back, but he is a good guy and I think that he deserves to know."  
  
Lizzie stopped to think; Matt had matured a lot in the past few years. Underneath his goofy exterior was a person that she now respected more than ever. "Ok Matt, I know that what you are saying is the complete truth and that is one of the reasons that I came here. I want to make things rights. I have to contact Gordo and...and tell him the truth. Gordo is Emily's father."  
  
A loud crash, followed by a gasp, caused both of them to turn around. Standing in the kitchen doorway with broken glass at her feet was a stunned Jo McGuire.   
  
A/N: Ohhh, a cliffhanger! I do promise that Gordo will make his appearance in the next chapter. I'm going to try and post it soon, but I start school tommorow and I work full time so we'll see what happens! Oh, and I wanted to clear up a few things, I have NOTHING against Los Angeles as it may seem in the beginning of the chapter. I have visited LA several times and its a very nice city. I also know nothing about how the FBI works, so I'm just making up the stuff about Matt, taking creative liberties you might say. Thanks! 


	9. Face to Face

Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does. I also do not own Sesame Street, PBS does (I think), however I just realized that I own Emily. Yeah, one for me!  
  
A/N- Hi everyone, sorry its been so long, its been a crazy couple weeks. I hate school!!! Anyways, to make up for it this is a REALLY long chapter, partly because it's been a while and partly because I promised to get Gordo there and it took a while, but I got him there. Yeah! So I hope you enjoy, and thank you so much for the reviews, they keep me motivated.  
  
Chapter 9-Face to Face  
  
"I mean…I always kind of thought, but… never really believed." Jo McGuire was seated between her children at the kitchen table trying to make sense of what she had heard. Lizzie felt horrible, she hadn't intended on her mother finding out the way that she had.  
  
"Mom…I…" Lizzie tried to find an explanation but couldn't find one. "I'm sorry?" It came out as more of a question than a statement.   
  
"SORRY!?"   
  
Yikes, her mom hadn't sounded that mad in a long time.  
  
"Lizzie how could you lie like that?" Lizzie was working on a response to the question when her father came in from the backyard. He looked around to see his wife clutching a glass of water and his children on either side of her; his son looking sheepish and his daughter looking unquestionably guilty.  
  
"What's going on here? Jo, is something wrong?"   
  
"Your daughter has something to tell you... don't you Lizzie?"   
  
"Well..." Lizzie stammered trying to find a good excuse to leave the room. Her mom had been hard enough to deal with, and she was the calm, rational, parent; her father would be ten times worse.  
  
"Lizzie, tell your father."  
  
"Well... see the thing is..." Lizzie looked around nervously  
  
"Lizzie!"  
  
"GorisEmlyfader." Lizzie mumbled hurriedly; there that should do it she thought.  
  
"Wha?" Sam looked even more confused now and he was starting to get a little irritated. Something was up and he wanted to know what it was; plus, the thought of burning his barbecue was dancing in his head.   
  
Lizzie took a deep breath; well it was now or never. "Gordo is Emily's father! Whoa, don't we all feel a little better...?" There is it was out what was the worst that could happen?  
  
--  
  
"Okay Sam, honey, breathe, breathe in the bag...good."   
  
"How...I can't believe...what." Sam gasped for air.  
  
"Elevate his legs," Matt barked, "he may be going into shock. How many fingers am I holding up? "   
  
"Leave your father alone," Jo gave more of a threat than a warning. "Sam, have you ever looked at Emily? Are you really surprised that Gordo is her father?"  
  
"Oh he is um...Wow! No way." Miranda had just entered the room to see where everyone was, and had walked right into the middle of everything. "I think I'm going to go... somewhere else think about this news that I am hearing for the first time...ever."  
  
"Hold it Miranda." Jo ordered, "Did you know about this?"   
  
"Me? Uh...well" Miranda glanced helplessly at Lizzie who could only shrug. "MMMMM?" Miranda barely managed to give a muffled word and a circular nod.  
  
"What...what was that?" Jo was determined to get a straight answer from someone.  
  
"UHHHH?" Miranda stammered, nodding her head more violently this time. She loved Mrs. McGuire, but she was really intimidating when she was mad, she kind of put Melina to shame; she now knew why Mrs. McGuire enjoyed her so much.  
  
Lizzie finally stepped in and saved her. "Yes, she knew alright! She's known since the beginning, when I found out I was pregnant... Larry knows too."  
  
"WHAT! Larry and Miranda knew, but not your own parents!" Jo was really starting to yell now and Sam finally found his voice.  
  
"It was a strange time for me..." She searched for a good pity line. "The love of my life had just left me and I was so scared...so alone" Lizzie gave her best sad face.  
  
Jo's face softened and then, after a moment of realization, it became stonier than before. "Oh no you don't missy!"  
  
"Lizzie we asked you to your face if Gordo was the father and you said no. You said it was 'one night...'" Sam shuddered at the thought and Lizzie began to regret her choice of lies. But it had been that or Immaculate Conception and at the time the latter had seemed a little too unbelievable; now it sounded much better. "You said that you would never be able to find this guy. Now you're saying that you lied right to our face?" Lizzie's lip began to tremble; it really sounded bad when he said it.  
  
"Well dad," Matt spoke up, putting his arm around Lizzie's shoulders "Look at the up-side, we thought she was a slut, but now we know she's just a liar!"  
  
"MATT!!" Both parents yelled in perfect unison.  
  
"Matt get out of here... take Lizzie and Miranda with you," Jo turned her attention to Lizzie "your father and I need to talk."  
  
"What am I twelve?" Lizzie asked. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm 28 now and I have a child of my own!" Lizzie stomped her foot indignantly; okay not the most mature thing to do.  
  
"Elizabeth Brooke McGuire!" The look her mother shot her would have stopped an angry grizzly bear in his tracks.  
  
"Fine, I'm going." Lizzie followed by Matt and Miranda slunk out of the room and almost ran into Lanny and Melina who were crouched just around the corner, apparently having overheard the entire conversation. The two jumped when they saw the trio hovering over them.  
  
"You're right Lanny.... Uh, the walls are white. I always thought they were eggshell!" Melina looked up and smiled innocently.  
  
"God, this is bad." Lizzie moaned as she made her way into the living room and flopped on to the couch. "They are freaking out."  
  
"Well, Lizzie " Miranda asked coming to sit next to her on the couch, "are you really surprised? You did kind of lie to them about the father of your child, that's kind of big."  
  
"Oh really? You think?" Lizzie didn't intend for that to come out quite as snippy as it had and noticing the hurt look on Miranda's face she quickly added, "You're right, I know that, I came here to tell the truth and face what ever consequences come my way." Lizzie leaned her back and sighed, "The worst is yet to come though, whatever my parents reaction is, Gordo's will be...I dunno, and that's what makes it so much worse."   
  
Miranda tried to think of something supportive to say, but nothing seemed right so the two sat in silence. Matt, Lanny and Melina all came in as well and sat in various parts of the room; it was probably the quietist that Lizzie had ever heard the three of them.   
  
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, sitting became too much for Lizzie and she stood up. "I'm going to go check on Emily, make sure she's still asleep." The words were barely out of her mouth when her parents walked in.  
  
"Hey guys." Lizzie tried to hide the quiver in her voice. Her parents looked tired, and her mom's eyes looked a little red, probably from crying.  
  
"Sit down sweetheart." Her dad said. Sam and Jo sat down next to Lizzie; Miranda got up and went to stand next Matt. The parents motioned that they wanted to talk to Lizzie alone. Miranda and company headed out of the living room, but stayed in the door way; out of Sam and Jo's line of vision.  
  
"Honey," her father started "We were shocked to find out who Emily's biological father is, very shocked." Lizzie nodded; this wasn't what she had expected. "It really hurts us," Sam continued, "that you felt that you had to hide this piece of information from us; Emily is our granddaughter." Lizzie nodded again, were they going to yell, was this the calm before the storm? It was an eerie feeling, like when it rains, but the sun is still shinning.  
  
"We realized though," her mother began and she smiled at Lizzie, "why you did, you were trying to protect Gordo, and sweetie that's very noble of you."  
  
Lizzie began to feel confused, where were they going with this? Her mother was still talking." He found out you were pregnant, and chose his movies over you and the baby. He obviously didn't love you the way we all thought he did."   
  
Lizzie sat there shocked; oh lord she thought, they think he knew…oh no! Wait what was her father saying?  
  
"When I think what that son of a…"   
  
"Sam!" Her mother admonished him.  
  
"Sorry, but what he did is reprehensible, leaving Lizzie and his child, his unborn child, to fend for themselves."  
  
"Sweetie, we love you, and we're glad we know the truth now." Her mom gave her a huge hug before continuing. "You have been so brave the last few years, raising Emily alone, moving to a strange city, doing so well in your career…" Her mother leaned in for another hug as did her father, "We're so proud of you..." Both parents began to cry.   
  
Lizzie spotted Matt and Miranda over her parent's shoulders. Both looked completely shocked. Lizzie knew she needed to set her parents straight, tell them that Gordo didn't know, he may have walked out on her, but not Emily. She needed to tell them that she had hid Emily from Gordo. She needed to tell them that if Gordo had known about Emily, he would have never left; she wasn't 100 percent sure, but she had faith in him. She needed to tell her parents these things, but she didn't want to ruin the moment. She looked helplessly at Miranda who mouthed to her "Tell them!" Right, tell them, no more lies...""Mom…Dad…I…" Lizzie began, but was interrupted.  
  
"Mommy! Mommy where are you?" Emily shouted from a room upstairs.  
  
"I...Thanks for your support mom, dad, I really appreciate it." Lizzie said quickly giving them another hug before getting up. "I better go get Emily." Lizzie sped from the room, Miranda hot on her heels.   
  
"What was that?" Miranda hissed as she chased Lizzie up the stairs, "Lizzie why didn't you…"  
  
"Look not in front of Emily okay?" Lizzie stood in front of the door to her parent's room, where Emily had been napping. "I'll be down in a few minutes."  
  
Miranda shook her head and headed for the room where she was staying, "You just made it...this is much worse Lizzie, you know that, don't you? This is not good, I mean, this is bad! Now you have two very big wrongs to right. You know I may not be here to help you pick up the pieces when this all blows up in your face. And believe me, this doesn't look like it has a happy ending."  
  
"Miranda!" Lizzie pleaded; what was with her and all this foreboding? Why hadn't she stopped her parents in the middle and set them straight? Either way, it was a little pressure relieved for now; or at least now that she had practice. Telling Gordo would be easier now; she hoped.  
  
--  
  
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. Her dad finished barbecuing; it was fabulous, having burned only a few odd pieces. Matt and his entourage departed about 9:00. Lanny was going undercover that night and Matt was doing preliminary surveillance for him; Melina was going along for fun or as they referred to her as, 'extra muscle'. Miranda was a little quiet and later in the evening she became a bit jumpy; she went to bed early claiming jet lag. Lizzie didn't think that she'd ever get Emily to sleep, but finally about 10:30, with the help of her mother she managed to get the little night owl in bed; Apparently, the two-hour time shift hadn't had any affect on Emily.   
  
Lizzie, herself, had a hard time falling asleep. The guilt of lying to her parents, a second time, was weighing heavily on her as well as the knowledge that she was going to need to get in touch with Gordo the next day and begin part one of her twelve-step 'admitting who the father is' program. She wished that Springer was still on the air; a mental image of Steve having to restrain Gordo, while her father swung chairs at people, made her smile a little. Finally, a little after 2:30 in the morning, Lizzie managed to doze off.  
  
--  
  
She didn't think she had been sleeping that hard, but the next thing she knew the sun was shinning brightly and something was making the bed bounce up and down, was it an earthquake?   
  
"Get up mommy," a little voice sang over and over.  
  
"Mhmmm." Lizzie rolled over and found herself looking into the bright blue eyes of her daughter; a miniature earthquake in her own right. "What time is it Em?"  
  
"I don't know!" The little girl giggled and continued to bounce. Lizzie was beginning to get seasick. "Sesame Street just ended."   
  
"I can't believe that show is still on the air," Lizzie mumbled. She had grown up watching Sesame Street, but recently they had changed the format of the show; they had begun to develop storylines for the characters. Bert had moved out of he and Ernie's apartment and moved in with Elmo. Elmo owned his own clothing company and was a multi-millionaire, now Elmo only laughed at the sweet smell of money. Ernie had become so distraught that he had plotted to put Bert in a coma...  
  
Wait, Sesame Street had just ended? That meant it was, Lizzie did some quick addition, almost ten in the morning. "How long have you been up sweetie, I didn't hear you get up?"  
  
"I dunno, Grandma came in and got me a while ago. She made me pancakes and I got to see Grandpa before he went to work. Grandma and I are going to see him for lunch today."  
  
Lizzie finally sat up and pulled the little girl into her lap for a hug.  
  
"That sounds like fun. Is Aunt Randa up yet?" Emily giggled and squirmed trying to wiggle free of her mother and bounce some more.  
  
"She left."  
  
"Left? Where'd she go?" Lizzie tried to remember if Miranda had mentioned if she was going some place the night before.  
  
"She went..." Emily tried to catch her breath, jumping on the bed, at any age, was hard work. "I dunno, she left a note on the kitchen counter, Grandma told me."  
  
"C'mon munchkin lets go talk to Grandma and find out where Aunt Randa went." Lizzie got out of bed and managed to catch Emily in mid bounce.  
  
"Hey," Emily protested wriggling in Lizzie's arms "Lemme go, I wanna bounce! I'm Tigger, I gotta bounce!"   
  
--  
  
Lizzie managed to get 'Tigger' down to the kitchen and plopped her into one of the chairs around the center island where her mom was using up the last of the pancake batter.  
  
"Where'd Miranda go?"   
  
Her mom smiled at her. "Good morning to you too, sleepyhead!"  
  
"Sorry, Good morning mom. Now, where is Miranda?"  
  
"She left a note that some aunt who lives in San Diego is in the hospital and that her parents drove up really early to take her to see the aunt in the hospital. She should be back either late Saturday or early Sunday."  
  
"I wonder why she didn't just wake me up and tell me, why the note." Lizzie was sorry that Miranda had a sick family member, but she needed Miranda too! Wow, how selfish did that sound?  
  
"Well she probably didn't want to wake you up, you tossed and turned there for awhile." Her mom gave her that pointed, over the glasses, raised eyebrow look.  
  
"Yeah mommy, you kept me up all night!" Emily chimed in, wanting to be part of the grown up conversation.  
  
"Is that so little miss." Lizzie answered leaning down to poke at Emily's' ribs. "I seem to remember someone kicking all night long… I wonder who that was?"  
  
"Not me!!" Emily giggled, shaking her blonde curls.  
  
"Hmmm… must have been some other little girl, with pink toenails!" Lizzie looked down at Emily's little pink toes hanging off of the edge of the chair.  
  
"Here you go sweetie. I made your favorite kind, prune-chunk." Jo set down a plate of pancakes and a glass of juice in front of Lizzie. "Just kidding, they're chocolate chip. Eat up and I'll take Miss Em upstairs and get her cleaned up and dressed."   
  
Lizzie felt a pang of guilt as she looked up at her mom and smiled, she had to stop lying. "Thanks mom."   
  
Her mom smiled her best, most comforting, mom smile and started upstairs with Emily; Lizzie heard part of their conversation.  
  
"I want to wear pink today Grandma, with bows in my hair."  
  
"Just like your mother when she was five!" Jo encouraged.  
  
--  
  
Guilt had caused Lizzie's appetite to wane so she picked at her pancakes for a few minutes; and that was how Matt found her when he walked in.  
  
"Hey Pinocchio!" He greeted her cheerfully tossing a gym bag on the counter and helping himself to one of her pancakes."  
  
"Those are mine worm!" Lizzie swatted at him, not very mature, but what could she say old habits die-hard.   
  
"So," Matt grinned at her undeterred, "when mom and dad find out about your second lie…well pancakes will be the least of your worries. I really have to thank you Lizzie, when everything comes out I will FINALLY be the 'good-one'!"  
  
"Doubt it, I may have lied, but I haven't caused the FBI to show up at the door!"  
  
"Not yet! I have some guys at working on a dossier of information on you, you're days are numbered old girl!"  
  
Lizzie rolled her eyes she was never quite sure how seriously to take Matt.   
  
"Where's mom?" Matt asked looking around the kitchen, "I'd hate for her to walk in on any more 'confessions'."  
  
"That was your fault, you egged it out of me!"  
  
"You lied in the first place!"  
  
"Yeah well…" Argghh! She hated it when Matt was right. "…Well you're just a spiky haired weasel!"  
  
"Hey you two!" Her mother called, coming into the room with Emily "I thought that by the time you were 28 and 25 this bickering would stop."  
  
Lizzie bit back the urge to proclaim that 'he started it!" Instead she looked at her daughter, who looked adorable in a denim jumper with pink and purple flowers embroidered on it, a pink tee shirt, and little white Keds. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail and a little pink bow was perched on top. Her mom had also changed into one of her many sweater sets and a skirt.  
  
"Wow, you two look nice, what are you up to today?" Matt did his best sucking up routine.  
  
Emily preened and did a little ballerina twirl before Jo answered. "We're going to run some errands, do a little shopping and have lunch with grandpa. Do you want to come Lizzie?"  
  
Lizzie shook her head, "Nah, I have some stuff to do." Like finding reasons to avoid calling Gordo or try to get in touch with Miranda, she thought.  
  
"Well okay, we'll be back later this afternoon," Both left the kitchen and headed for the front door. "Bye Matt, try leaving a little food for the rest of us!"  
  
"Sure mmmgh." Matt called from the refrigerator; already gnawing on a cold leftover chicken leg.  
  
Lizzie walked with her mom and Emily to the front door and helped Emily get her backpack on; the one she took everywhere.  
  
"Be good for Grandma." Lizzie said kissing her forehead.  
  
"I will, I will" Emily assured her.  
  
--  
  
Lizzie spent the rest of the morning showering, getting dressed, and avoiding her brother; the FBI agent with all his questions. She tried to call Miranda's cell phone, but apparently it had been turned off. She hoped that her Aunt would be ok and she even thought about going to the store to get a 'Get Well Soon' card.  
  
About noon she was getting bored and was about to settle down with her computer and check her work emails when the doorbell rang. She waited for Matt to get it, he was closer, but it rang again. Lizzie finally got up and headed downstairs. She looked around for Matt and found him completely engrossed in some action hero video game, oblivious to the rest of the world. The doorbell rang for a third time and Lizzie finally ran to get it. When she opened the door her heart stopped in her chest and then proceeded to fall into her stomach.  
  
"Gordo," she whispered.  
  
--  
  
Gordo had arrived in town early in the afternoon, the day before. Unfortunately most of his courage had been lost along the highway, so he had spent the day, at his parents' house, building it back up. Well that and sleeping, something he had done very little of the last few days. He had awakened Friday morning refreshed and ready to go; almost, it had taken a good four hours to find the perfect thing to say and then make himself walk over there. He had also worried that she wasn't even in town yet; the reunion wasn't for another week, there was a very good chance that she was still…wherever she lived now. Something deep in his gut made him go, however, told him she was there.   
  
He had almost been sick to his stomach standing in front of her door again, so close; he had summoned every ounce of courage he had ever had to ring that doorbell…and then ring it again…and one more time. Gordo was about to give up for the day, take it as a sign, fate if you will, that this wasn't the day to make things right with Lizzie; then the door opened.   
  
There she was. She looked exactly as he remembered, but different at the same time. She had the same blonde hair, a little longer than the last time he had seen her, just past her shoulders. They were the same brown eyes, which were quickly filling up with shock and disbelief; much like the last time he'd seen her actually. She was Lizzie, and yet she wasn't. This Lizzie was more mature, was a grown up, she was probably Elizabeth or Liz now, not Lizzie. She also hadn't said anything and Gordo debated whether or not he should leave when she finally whispered his name.  
  
--  
  
"Hi Lizzie." He said quietly, not much of opening line but he hadn't actually prepared anything for this part of the meeting. Part of him felt like turning around and running off. That's a great visual, he thought.  
  
"Gordo" she said again, part of the shock seemed to be wearing off and it was replaced by something that looked like fear.  
  
"What are you…Why are you…How you are…" Lizzie stammered. At least that hadn't changed too much, that part was still Lizzie.  
  
"I came to see you." Gordo said simply, with a hint of confidence. "I needed to see you," he added.  
  
Lizzie nodded; some coherence seemed to be making its way back to her face.   
  
"How did you…"she began looking slightly confused  
  
"I don't know, I just guessed and hoped that you'd be here."  
  
Lizzie nodded again, he could tell she was still grappling with the whole situation and he began to fear that she had a boyfriend or husband inside, but he didn't see any rings and secretly hoped that she was single.  
  
"I'm sorry, I just… seeing you," her voice trailed off.  
  
"I know, it's been awhile."   
  
Lizzie nodded her head again.  
  
Her thoughts were racing so fast she could barely think coherently, let alone speak. Why was he here? Was it another dream, she pinched her arm and bit her tongue at the same time to check. Ouch!! Nope this definitely was not a dream. Gordo was standing in front of her, on her (well her parents) doorstep. Six years of nothing and suddenly there he is. Looking exactly as she remembered, dark curls, blue eyes, serious face, slouchy posture; it was Gordo. He looked older though, you could tell that he'd seen a lot; He had the same intensity as well, but it seemed more controlled, or focused, than it had in the past.   
  
She couldn't decide what to do, part of her wanted to fall into his arms and feel that same security and warmth that she had craved all these years, to be safe in Gordo's protective embrace. Part of her wanted to really let him have it, to scream at him for the past, what he had done, how he had left, make him hurt the way she had. Then there was her conscience, which seemed to sound like Miranda, telling her to break down and confess everything, Emily and her lies, everything.   
  
Unfortunately all she seemed able to do was say his name and a few half statements. He seemed so calm, well almost, his hands were hadn't stopped moving and he was bouncing ever so slightly on the balls of his feet. Normalcy finally began returning to her brain and she began to focus on the fact that he, Gordo, was right in front of her and that there was something that she needed to tell him.   
  
"Gordo, I'm glad to see you, it's just been a while." He nodded and she began to find the right words to segue into, 'I had your baby five and half years ago' when he began to speak.  
  
"Lizzie there's some things I need to say to you, that I should have said years ago, and I want to get them all out now while I have some nerve." Lizzie nodded, and started to feel afraid, did he know? Had Matt told him behind her back?  
  
"Lizzie, I am so sorry for everything that happened six years ago. I was jerk, and arrogant jerk who couldn't see that I had everything I'd always wanted right in front of me. I've traveled all over the world, seen so many places, trying to find something, and then I realized it's you, it's always been you."   
  
Lizzie felt herself go lightheaded, she had not in a million years expected this, hoped for it many times, but never expected it.   
  
Gordo looked at the sky as if looking for some divine words before continuing. "I may never be able to make up for what I did, the years that we lost because of me, that's okay, but I can't leave this reunion unless you know how sorry I am, and if I have at least started to make it up to you. If you have a husband or…anyone just let me know and I'll leave right now, but I am sorry Lizzie, I wish I had done this years ago, but I guess it took me a while to see the truth."  
  
Lizzie felt completely stupefied standing there, she had longed to hear him say those words for years and there he was saying them, and it didn't seem real. Finally she found her voice.  
  
"Gordo... that's so sweet…Thank you I… I don't know what to say."   
  
Don't know what to say?!? Say that you have something to tell him too, that little voice in her head reminded her, but she pushed it away for a minute when he began to speak again.  
  
"Lizzie, I know this is sudden and all, but would you like to grab a cup of coffee, I want to talk to you some more. Like I said nothing may ever help fix what I did, but maybe a cup of coffee will be a start. A small one, but a start."  
  
Lizzie tried answering but she had too many thoughts to make them form a sentence. Tell him now; she thought, now, now, nownownow. Don't put it off, you've waited too long already, TELL HIM NOW! Okay, this is it.   
  
Lizzie opened her mouth. "Sure, I'd love to."  
  
A/N: Argh, another cliffhanger! I'll try (try being the operative word) to update by next week sometime. Oh, and I hope I didn't offend any die hard Sesame Street fans, not my idea, my "editor" (aka boyfriends) idea. 


	10. Together Again

A/N: Well I know what you all must be thinking; what an update, from that lazy bum who leaves her story hanging for over two months? It can't be! I will admit to having lazy bum moments, but for most of the two months I have been completely swamped with work, school, and numerous birthdays. (including my own.) Every weekend I'd tell my boyfriend: "I'm going to finish chapter 10 and update this weekend, and then every weekend there's a paper to write or a test to study for or a birthday celebration. I haven't had time to read many of the other stories either, which I miss=( Anyways, I finally decided that come hell or high water I was updating THIS weekend. It had been so long that I had to watch my favorite Lizzie episode (Dear Lizzie) for inspiration! So here it is, it is a VERY long chapter so hopefully you like that, if not: sorry!! Well enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does.  
  
Chapter 10- Together again.  
  
"Sure, I'd love to."  
  
Wait who said that? Lizzie looked around expecting to see someone else standing there. There was no one, it had been her. Set him straight McGuire she told herself, but when she looked at him, and he looked so happy that she had said yes, she couldn't do it.  
  
"Do you want to go now" he asked hopefully, to which Lizzie found herself nodding weakly.  
  
"Wait one second while I grab my purse." Lizzie dashed inside and did a frantic once over in the mirror. Hair. Good, freshly washed and dried. Clothes: Okay, low rise jeans and a blue tank top. Make-up; just a small dusting of powder and lip-gloss, but it looked okay. Grab her purse, and she was ready. Ready for what? She wasn't quite sure.  
  
"Hey Matt, I'm going out, back later." Lizzie called sticking her head into the living room. Matt still into his game nodded but didn't look up.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"If mom and Emily come back before me tell them, please."  
  
"Okay." Just as Lizzie turned to go Matt decided to shut of his game.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Out." Lizzie replied without looking back. She had just reached the door when Matt managed to slide between her and her quick exit.  
  
"With whom?"  
  
"No one…by myself…alone."  
  
"So if I open this door I'll find…"  
  
"Gordo." Damn, why did she keep saying things? She needed to just be quiet. Where was Miranda? Why wasn't she here to help her?  
  
Matt's eyes widened, he hadn't really expected to hear that.  
  
"Really," he asked a bit suspiciously. "Yes, okay, he's waiting, now move!" The look of desperation on Lizzie's face told Matt that she was telling the truth, but he stayed put.  
  
"Are you going to tell him…you know?"  
  
"I don't know okay, look I don't have time to sit here and chat with you, he's outside waiting. So MOVE!"   
  
Matt may have been taller and bigger in general but Lizzie was still older not to mention under an extreme amount of stress, so with one swift shove Matt was out of the way and Lizzie was out the door.  
  
"Tell him!" Matt called after her as the door closed.  
  
"Sorry it took so long," Lizzie said smiling lamely as she closed the door,  
  
"I…I couldn't find…" my nerve Lizzie thought to herself. "…My purse."  
  
"No it's fine, I know I threw you for a loop and all, are you sure you still want to go?" Gordo looked at her anxiously. Now's your chance to tell him that pesky little voice in her head told her. Once again Lizzie pushed it out of her head and smiled brightly at Gordo.  
  
"I'm sure, so where to?"  
  
"This may sound really lame, but I was thinking the Digital Bean. You know for old times sake." That was a good line he thought, but the truth was that Gordo wanted to get them on some familiar, neutral ground, that was associated with good memories. He figured that they would eventually land on the topic of their break up and Gordo hoped that with good memories surrounding them, less food, and sharp objects would fly.  
  
Lizzie smiled, "I was thinking the same thing, Digital Bean sounds good." They say great minds think a like. Lizzie was hoping that if she did manage to fess up, Gordo would feel a little softer towards her if surrounded by good memories. But then again, why ruin good memories, maybe she should just wait…yeah waiting was looking a whole lot better. They could get to know each other again and then Lizzie could slip it in, 'by the way…' yeah that sounded good.  
  
"Ready?" Gordo asked holding open the passenger side door of his car.   
  
Lizzie smiled at him confidently. "Yeah, lets go!"   
  
Lizzie looked confident as she got in and they pulled away, but she wasn't so sure about her plan. She couldn't help thinking that maybe it wasn't the best one she'd had. She wished Miranda were there; Lizzie needed her advice. Why wasn't Miranda there? Where was Miranda again? San Diego?  
  
Lizzie didn't say much in the way to the Digital Bean. Where do you start after six years? In Lizzie's case 'Hey you have a child' would have been the best place to start, but she had already voted against that so now she was left trying to think of something else to say; something more tactful. Perhaps she could say something so brilliant that he would spontaneously break into song, he would profess his love for her and his unseen child while also breaking into a dance. Then the waiters and waitresses would come in on roller skates singing something like:   
  
He just found out!   
  
His life is whole and there is no doubt,  
  
Gordo is a father and his heart is full  
  
Tra-la-la, something that rhymes with full...  
  
"Lizzie?" Gordo gave her a bewildered look. "How are Sam and Jo."  
  
Lizzie blushed a little; she took her day dreaming seriously. "Oh, they're fine, just a little tired because of..." She bit her tongue; almost spilled the beans McGuire, she thought to herself. "...Old age..?" D'oh, what was that?  
  
Gordo smiled, "Yeah, time is weird, it can change everything." Gordo pondered his last words in silence. He was feeling the pressure, but for different reasons. He wasn't really sure where to start. 'So… after I left you six years ago, crying in the middle of the night…how ya been? I've traveled the world, after I left you of course…' Nothing seemed right. Besides all that, Lizzie was being awfully nice to him.  
  
Gordo had expected some yelling and screaming and possibly a few tears, but she was being really nice, like nothing had happened; it was a bit unnerving. So they said nothing, just sat lost in thought; both still in a bit of shock to be together again.  
  
Luckily the Digital Bean was near by and they soon found themselves at one of their old tables with their favorite smoothies. The original plan had been for coffee, but both had seemed to want to keep the nostalgic feeling alive and had opted for the smoothies. So now they had beverages, but still no conversation, just shy looks back and forth. 'Good grief' Lizzie thought, 'it's like being 14 again.'  
  
"Are you excited about seeing everyone?" Lizzie finally asked. It wasn't the most exciting opening line, but it was a start.  
  
"Yeah, I guess…I pretty much lost contact with everyone when…" his voice trailed off, he wasn't really ready to get too deep into that right then.  
  
"Yeah," Lizzie nodded her head, "I got it." An awkward silence followed.  
  
"Do you know if Kate's coming?" Gordo asked trying to steer them to a safer topic. Lizzie shrugged, while much of the animosity that had haunted them in middle school had ended in Rome, she and Kate had never really become close, they had tolerated each other, chatted in class if they happened to sit next to each other, but that was it.  
  
"I haven't talked to her since graduation, Ethan either." Gordo nodded and then asked, "I wonder if he still has his hair?"  
  
Lizzie laughed, "I hope so for his sake, that was about all he had going for him. Wait that's mean, he was a nice guy…just…not so bright."  
  
"That's putting it mildly." Gordo laughed. The two laughed and began to relax as they begin to talk of other classmates. They both agreed that they hoped that Claire had gotten fat and that Parker was married to someone shorter than she was.  
  
"Perhaps he would have a Napoleon complex," Gordo added with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.  
  
"We are so mean." Lizzie gasped, weak with laughter.  
  
"So, you still see Larry and Miranda, right?" Gordo asked. Lizzie nodded. "We live about three hours apart, they're in Houston and I'm in Austin."  
  
"That's cool, was it planned that way?"  
  
"No, luck. I got a job at a magazine in Austin and a few months later Larry got a job with NASA, so it all worked out. Until a few months ago Miranda was an event coordinator for a large company in Houston, but she is in the process of starting her own company. She'll be great at it!"   
  
Gordo nodded feeling a bit envious of the close friendship the three still had.  He and Larry had never been the best of friends, but he had respected the guy, and sometimes that was more important.  
  
"Anyways," Lizzie continued, "Larry will be here Sunday, he had to work, and Miranda was here, but there was some sort of sick family member in San Diego, so she went there, for a day or so. I'm a little sketchy on the details."  
  
"Hope it's nothing serious," Gordo added, "are they married?"  
  
"Nope." Lizzie smiled. "Been engaged for years now, but no wedding. They're 'happy' the way things are."   
  
Gordo laughed, and nodded.  
  
Lizzie looked thoughtful for a moment, "You know, I'm beginning to think they are never going to get married.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"So what about you?" Lizzie finally asked, "girlfriend…or anything?" She was careful to not mention kids.  
  
Gordo stared at her for a minute before shaking his head no. "What about you?"  
  
Lizzie shook her head as well. "Nope, single"   
  
THAT was true; she didn't have a boyfriend or husband. A child yes, his child for that matter but that wasn't specified. Then their old friend silence returned.  
  
"So how are your-"  
  
"Tell me about your-"  
  
The two grinned at each other.  
  
"You go first!" They both said in unison and then laughed some more, breaking a bit of the tension. "You go first." Gordo finally said.   
  
"I just was curious about your..." Lizzie had a hard time even saying the word, in college she had always loved Gordo's movies, even the ones she didn't like, but in the end they had become the mistress and eventually he had left her for the "other woman".   
  
Lizzie had always believed that Gordo could have had both, if he wanted, but he had believed otherwise.  Lizzie had not been sure if she had wanted to bring up that topic, but she was curious. Part of her always expected to turn on Entertainment Tonight or open a People magazine and see his face; the young hot director of some new Hollywood blockbuster.   
  
The other part of her knew the real Gordo and knew that he wouldn't go that route, he'd go the way of the independent movies and documentaries; a sleeper hit would bring him credibility and name recognition in the industry, he was in it for the love of films, not the money. Gordo looked a bit surprised by her question, he knew how she must feel about his movies, they had taken him away from her, broken her heart. He was careful to not elaborate much, he didn't want to rub anything in her face, or open any old wounds, but at the same time he wanted her to know that his leaving hadn't been in vain, he had been able to make something of it.  
  
"I just finished one film about two months ago, that should be released later this year, and I'll be starting a new one in about a month or so. Both are pretty small, independent films, but we were actually able to land several actors with name recognition this time."  
  
"Do you still do documentaries?"  
  
"Yeah, I finished one up in January about Indian reservations in the southwest. I learned a lot from them; it was a very good time for me, spiritually."  
  
Lizzie nodded.  
  
"There's been some Oscar buzz around it but..." Gordo's voice trailed off, he noticed the look of sadness creeping onto Lizzie's face. "...I don't buy into that stuff, it really wasn't that big of a deal." Gordo decided not to dwell any more on that subject.  
  
"Big deal?  Gordo, that's awesome!" Lizzie's voice sounded a little too high, like she was covering something up. "You've done so well for yourself...I'm really proud of you." Her voice broke a little and a tear slipped down her cheek.  She had tried to stop that tear from falling, she really didn't want Gordo to feel bad, he had worked hard and earned everything he had gotten, but their relationship had been the price. A friendship and love going back twenty-two years had been the cost. Gordo's passion for movies had blinded him to the reality that he could have had both Lizzie and the success he had so craved. But he had decided to make it a choice and in the end he had, in a sense, pawned their relationship for his career, now here he was six years later trying repurchase what they had once had. It made Lizzie angry in a way, that he thought that he could just come in and make everything okay, that they would be able to just pick up where they had left off, like he had never broken her heart.   
  
She knew, however, that the secret she carried was in many ways far worse. Gordo, for what it was worth, had been up front, it had been no secret where his priorities had been. Lizzie on the other hand had kept his child from him, and had lied to so many people, including her parents. How angry could she be about a failed relationship, something that happened everyday, when she lied about the father of her child?  
  
Finally, Lizzie broke her silence. "I would like to see some of your work sometime."  
  
"Yeah...Ok," Gordo stammered. "I have a DVD of my most recent documentary you can have it, I have many copies." At that moment, Gordo realized he was sitting in front of the love of his life. He knew she would never watch it, but just the act of asking, especially after all these years...   
  
Lizzie smiled, she wasn't sure if she would watch it, but she wanted to make some kind of goodwill gesture towards his movies.   
  
"How are your parents?" Gordo felt it was a good time to change the mood, without realizing his folly.  
  
Lizzie looked a bit surprised by the question; hadn't he asked that already? Lizzie chalked it up to nerves. "Oh, they're good, goofy as ever. They like that I'm back in town for a couple weeks, they love spoiling Em...uh...me, yeah they love trying to spoil me while I'm here... because you know I don't live here... and I don't make it back much...you know..." Bite your tongue McGuire!!! She couldn't believe that she almost spilled the beans twice, on the same question. It was definitely time for a subject change.  
  
"How are your parents?"  
  
"Oh, good, busy, they both still have their practices. They're in New York seeing family right now though, they might make it home while your here, they'd love to see you."  
  
Lizzie nodded and silence returned, yet again, this time, however Lizziehappened to glance down at her watch and was surprised to see that it was just after three, her mom and Emily would be home soon and she didn't want anyone to have time to question her afternoon whereabouts.  
  
"Wow, times really flown, I better get back...I promised my mom I'd help her with ...some stuff."  Gordo nodded, although he was a bit disappointed, despite the occasional awkward pauses he had really enjoyed spending time with Lizzie and was hoping to spend more time with her while they were both in town.  
  
"Yeah, I have some calls to make for work." That wasn't a complete lie, there were several people he needed to get in touch with for the upcoming movie, but nothing too urgent, he didn't want too look pathetic to Lizzie though.   
  
The drive back to the McGuire's wasn't nearly as awkward as the drive before, the two littered their conversation with various 'do you remembers' that kept them laughing.  
  
"Do you remember that murder mystery party we had at my house?" Lizzie asked as they pulled up to her parents'. She noticed her mothers car was out front, but not Matt's, good, he wouldn't be there to interrogate her.   
  
Gordo smiled at the memory. "Yeah, we competed all night, but I was really just trying to impress you."  
  
"Yeah, I know" Lizzie grinned before she continued, "I gave the wrong answer so that you would win."  
  
"WHAT!!" Gordo looked shocked "I never knew that, all these years and I never knew that!"  
  
Lizzie shrugged, "I guess it never came up. Besides, if you had known that Kate had been the one to tell me, I don't think you could have handled it."  
  
Gordo shook his head still processing this new information.  "I almost asked you out that night."   
  
Lizzie nodded her head again. "I know, but my dad interrupted."  
  
"Would you have said yes?" Gordo had wondered this for years but had never asked. Before they were going out it was too awkward and later they had been going out so it had seemed irrelevant, but now seemed like an okay time to ask.  
  
"I don't know." Lizzie answered honestly, "It seemed so strange to think of you that way at the time, but at the same time... I dunno, it felt kind of right, like seeing something so obvious for the first time. You know, like those magic eye pictures? One day you just appeared and I could see it perfectly."  
  
They both gazed at each other for a moment and Lizzie felt all those old feeling come crashing back on her. The anger and resentment she had carried for all these years was, for a moment at least, pushed aside and she found herself once again getting lost in him...and them together. They had been great together, the perfect couple, best friends who had realized that the true love of their life was right in front of them. Fate had been good to them, but what had they done? Ruined it with dreams, and delusions and lies. Lies…her lies, she had lied, thoughts of her dream came crashing around her. The fog, the rain, Gordo, that horrible feeling of realizing how badly she had hurt so many people.   
  
Just thinking about made her feel light headed and sick to her stomach. Gordo deserved the truth. Emily, her beautiful daughter, their beautiful daughter, deserved the truth, to know her father. No more hiding, she had to do this now, before she lost her nerve again or convinced herself it wasn't the "right time." She had even taken to lying to herself, always thinking that it was never the "right time", when really it may never be the "right time". The right time had been six years ago, after that….   
  
"Gordo, I have to tell you something… important."  
  
Gordo was relieved to hear her speak, for the last couple minutes Lizzie had begun to look…odd. She had gone from looking happy and fairly relaxed to looking slightly like a deer caught in the headlights. It was worrying Gordo, what if she realized how angry she still was with him, he felt like they had really connected again. He realized, yet again, how stupid he had been all those years ago, and how much he had missed having her in his life. He was clinging to a hope that maybe they could start over, but now, seeing her look so confused and scared made him question all of that. He wondered what she had to say, was it bad? Did she have a boyfriend or husband after all? Did she still hate him?   
  
"Go ahead." Gordo nodded his head and began to mentally brace himself.  
  
Lizzie took a deep breath, Oh god, what had she gotten herself into!?   
  
"See, Gordo…well…uh…" Oh god her mouth was dry, and why did her tongue suddenly feel ten times its normal size? Lizzie took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay see…um…I should have done this a long time ago…well I…it…I wanted…to, but I…I didn't, well…" this was not going well, for some reason the words just wouldn't form, her brain felt completely empty. Empty and lightheaded, 'oh lord don't let me faint' Lizzie prayed silently.  
  
"Lizzie what's wrong, you can tell me." Gordo was concentrating at her, a concerned look on his face and in his eyes. His blue eyes, Emily's eyes. Suddenly Lizzie remembered why she was doing all this, for her daughter. Lizzie had always sworn to herself that she would do anything for her little girl, but here she was unable to something as simple as inform her daughters father that she existed. Lizzie was being selfish, she had to do this and she had to do this now. One more deep breath and she was ready to continue.  
  
Gordo I need to tell you something I should have a long time ago, and I didn't. I'm very sorry for that. This isn't easy…"  
  
"Lizzie just tell me." Gordo said gently, "I'm here, tell me." Lizzie nodded and began.  
  
"See, when you…"  
  
Beep! Beep! Beep!   
  
Lizzie and Gordo both jumped and looked at the cell phone sitting on the console. Gordo glanced at it briefly.  
  
"Oh crap, it's my assistant Lauren,"  
  
Lizzie nodded unable to say anything as her heart as well as most of the air in her body was lodged in her throat.  
  
"I told her to only call if was an emergency… and I know her, it…well it must be…." Gordo looked trapped, desperate to know what Lizzie was about to reveal, but at the same time knowing that phone call could be just as important.  
  
"Take it." Lizzie finally gasped feeling relieved at this divine intervention. "It's okay."   
  
Gordo looked relieved as her picked up the phone.  
  
"What's up? What…how… it took us three days to get that shot perfect! How…I know we have to have it ready for the backers in four days, I made time in my vacation to show it to them. Oh god…if we work all night and most of tomorrow we should be able to…yeah. I'm in Hilldridge, yeah, it's not your fault, I'll be there as soon as I can and we'll get started. Bye." Gordo turned of the phone, leaned his head back against the seat and let out a long sigh.  
  
"Lizzie, I'm so sorry, this scene it didn't…I have to…." Gordo shook his head, it was same old excuse it had always been, and here it was being used again.   
  
"It's okay." Lizzie assured him. "I understand, this isn't a film class project, this is real, this is your job, go." It taken everything in Lizzie to say that and she felt that old feeling of disappointment creep in, she had felt it so many times before.   
  
"Lizzie, I'm so sorry." The words seemed futile, how many times had he said them, over and over. He had sworn to himself that if she would just talk to him it would be different, but here he was uttering those completely useless words all over again. She was ready to reveal something big to him and he had to leave.  
  
"What did you want to tell me?" Lizzie looked at him for a moment, smiled weakly and shook her head.  
  
"It can wait."  
  
Gordo felt lower than low. "Please tell me, I have a minute…or…" He glanced quickly at his watch, "two."   
  
Lizzie shook her head again, leaned over and kissed his cheek. She smelled like she always did, like roses. Gordo felt his brain turn to mush. He had missed her so much.  
  
"Go save your movie Gordo, this might take a little longer than two minutes. Call me when you can and we'll talk then. I'll be here. I promise." Gordo nodded as Lizzie opened the car door and prepared to get out.   
  
"It'll work out, your movie, it always did, remember?" Gordo nodded again remembering all those late nights, all of those emergency's. When everything had seemed to be going wrong Lizzie had always been there, quietly, by his side doing whatever she could to help. He hadn't deserved that kind of loyalty from her, but she had given it and he had pushed it away. He was a fool, but he was also a fool with a lot of people counting on him to come save the day.  
  
"Lizzie…."   
  
She shook her head. "Please don't say it, I know."  
  
Gordo nodded, "I'll only be in L.A. so I'll call you tomorrow or the next day when I get back. I promise." Lizzie smiled encouragingly and gave his hand a final squeeze.  
  
"Good luck. But you don't need it," she teased playfully, "you're the brilliant David Zephyr Gordon, you managed to make a documentary on running shoes interesting at the age of fourteen, heaven knows what you're capable of at twenty-eight!"   
  
"Thanks Lizzie!" She nodded and stepped out of the car, closing the door behind her. She watched Gordo drive away, filled with mixed emotions. Disappointment, anger and relief seemed to be the most prevalent. She had finally gotten the nerve to tell him the most important thing she had ever needed to tell him and he had taken of, again. She had hoped things would have changed, but they hadn't. However, she was relieved to, at least temporarily, be off the hook, and it wasn't even her fault this time. Lizzie stood in the driveway staring down the road trying to decide what to do next. She'd call Miranda for some advice.  
  
A/N: Well there it is, two months and that's the best I could do!! I have no clue when the next update will be, it might be the Christmas holidays, but that's not so far away. I will give you this preview: the chapter will probably focus on Miranda and where she is; let's just say she's not in San Diego! Thank you to everyone one who has reviewed, it really helps keep me motivated! 


	11. Legally Bonded

A/N: Hi everyone, sorry it's been such a long time. A very crazy Christmas holidays. Anyways I have this chapter and I am half way through the next one that I am hoping to finish and post before I start school on Monday. (fingers crossed) So I hope you enjoy!  
  
Chapter 11- Legally Bonded  
  
Lizzie stood there on the curb for a moment after Gordo left just staring down the street. Her heart was still racing from her almost confession and after a while she was relieved in a way for the reprieve. This relief was quickly dampened when she realized that this might have been the perfect opportunity that slipped through her hands. She tried to comfort herself by saying that inside his car was probably not the best place, but she couldn't come up with any other place that would have been better.   
  
"Just face it," Lizzie muttered to herself, eyelids beginning to burn, "there is no perfect place or time." She began to regret not grabbing Gordo and telling him that there is something that he needed to hear; something more important that celluloid. The idea of fate had always been romantic to Lizzie; that certain things happen for a reason and because of this they should just be accepted. Now she was beginning to realize that fate could only take you so far. Yeah, Gordo's ringing phone had interrupted her in mid confession, but it was up to her to continue.  
  
Lizzie wandered inside feeling slightly lost and very alone. She needed to talk to someone, but the only person she could talk to wasn't there. Lizzie tried Miranda's cell phone once again and once again got the voice mail. Lizzie was starting to worry; it wasn't like Miranda to not have her cell phone on? But, Lizzie reasoned with herself, if she's been at the hospital this whole time they might not allow cell phones. This reasoning didn't completely work however because Lizzie distinctly remembered Miranda's phone ringing several times in the delivery room the night Emily was born.  
  
"Oh well," Lizzie decided to give her until the next day, if she hadn't heard from her by then, she would start digging around. Lizzie couldn't shake the feeling though that Miranda's letter hadn't been completely truthful; it seemed to perfect, more like a story than a reality. She remembered something that Matt had told her about people who lie. You can tell if someone is lying by how much detail they give, too much means that they are probably lying, to little means that they really don't care if you believe them and therefore it usually means that they are telling some truth. Perhaps as a means of keeping herself occupied, she went back inside to re-examine the letter that Miranda had written.  
  
=-=-=  
  
Miranda was tired and hot and very much in need of a shower just then.   
  
"I don't get it," she started for the millionth time in four hours. "You were valedictorian of our class, you graduated MIT in only three years and went on to get a dual masters degrees in calculoid, or something, and astrophysics and you work for NASA, the people who put men on the MOON. How in heavens name did you manage to get lost in the Dallas airport and miss your connecting flight?"   
  
"I'm sorry!" Larry exclaimed for the millionth and one time. "It's very confusing with the levels and the turns and the moving sidewalks and…" Larry regained his composure, "you know we missed the moon a few times, bad conversions, inches and centimeters....just little stuff." His voice trailed off as he noticed how tightly Miranda was gripping the steering wheel of the rental car and the look of panic etched on her face. He began to feel a twinge a worry creep into his stomach.  
  
"You do still want to do this right? I mean I know that I messed up, and I can be the biggest dork sometimes but…"  
  
Miranda, who had taken his lateness as a sign of intervening fate, finally managed a smile. "Of course I still want to do this, why else do think I would have driven to Reno to pick you up silly. I'm just nervous that we won't be able to get everything done in time and according to plan." That was the understatement of the year nothing was going according to plan and it was making Miranda a nervous wreck. The plan had been simple: Miranda would take an early flight to Las Vegas, check into the hotel and wait for Larry who was supposed to have been on the earliest flight into Las Vegas from Houston. Then they would spend the afternoon relaxing and shopping for rings. That night they had a seven o'clock appointment at the Little White chapel where they would be married, followed by a romantic dinner at the four star restaurant in their hotel. Next morning get up, check out and fly back into Los Angeles together, getting into Hilldridge mid afternoon and going straight to Miranda's parents house where they would begin calling their families to let them know of their nuptials and then heading over to tell Lizzie the big news.   
  
But no, unlike most plans this one had worked better on paper. Larry had managed to catch his flight from Houston to Dallas, but had missed the pivotal connection to Las Vegas. The closest he could get the fastest was Reno. So Miranda had been forced to rent a car and drive to Reno to pick him up there. Of course she could have let him drive himself but she didn't actually trust him to get himself there in time. Now they would get back just in time to quickly buy a couple rings and the first place they could find them and get changed and to the chapel on time. Miranda had also had to cancel an appointment at a hairdresser and was going to have to do her own hair. That really was a minor detail, but Miranda had been looking forward to the pampering.   
  
There were other things weighing on her as well. First of all as happy and sure that she was of getting married she was feeling slight twinges of guilt for sneaking around. Two nights ago on the couch listening to the rain the plan had sounded perfect and romantic. Larry and Miranda both agreed that they were doing this for themselves not everyone else and they planned on having another wedding ceremony within the next nine months to a year that their family and friends could be apart of. Still, Miranda hated sneaking around and not telling Lizzie had almost killed her. Luckily Lizzie had more than enough problems of her own to notice Miranda's edginess and frequent phone calls the night before.   
  
Which led to something else on Miranda's mind, Lizzie and her "big secret" she just kept making it worse for herself and Miranda felt bad for leaving her best friend when she was needed the most. She had rationalized, however that they would only be gone one full day and Lizzie would be fine, in fact maybe she needed to deal with some of this on her own. Then there was…  
  
"MIRANDA!" Larry's voice jolted her from her thought. She jumped a mile before turning to face him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're at the hotel," Larry stated with a hint of disbelief in his voice.  
  
Miranda looked around surprised to see them sitting in a parking spot in front of the Bellagio where they were staying. "How long have we been here?" Miranda asked suspiciously.   
  
Larry looked at her surprised, "Only about a minute, you don't remember getting here?" Miranda didn't answer and Larry began to look worried, "are you okay, do you still want to do this?"  
  
Miranda felt so guilty about making him worry, she did want to do this, forget everyone else and their problems for a day, they were going to finally make this legal. Miranda leaned over and gave Larry a huge hug and an affirmative "YES."  
  
"We're doing this babe, I've just had a bunch on my mind, but that is gone for now, this is about us. Now hurry up we need to get rings and get dressed and get this craziness done!"  
  
"Yes ma'am" Larry gave a quick salute and added quickly "I love it when you're bossy!"   
  
"Larry," Miranda said in a sweet tone.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"If you make any remarks about being lord of the wedding rings again I am going to have to hurt you."  
  
Larry looked a little hurt, but not surprised, and stated "Anything you asks us my precious, for you are more fair than Arwen and more valuable than the Arkenstone of Thráin." And before waiting for Miranda's reply, he quickly hobbled off.  
  
=-=-=  
  
Two and half hours later Miranda stood at the back of the chapel getting ready to walk down the aisle and become Mrs. Larry Tudgeman, Miranda Sanchez Tudgeman. Well that one was going to take some serious getting used to. She took a deep breath and smoothed her beige silk dress one last time. Perfect. One of the ladies that worked there smiled at her and nodded, it was time. Miranda was surprised when she began to get nervous on her way down the aisle. She didn't know why, her and Larry had all but been married for the last six years. Maybe it was the sneaking around, or wondering what her parents would say, or maybe it was—her thoughts were broken as she reached the alter, where Larry was standing looking nervous, yet handsome. Feeling nervous herself, she glanced up at him and he looked back and gave her a little wink. Suddenly everything was better, it was that wink, that yeah, I know I'm cool even though I do math problems for fun and go to science fiction convention, and you know you love it—wink. Good grief, she loved the boy and she was going to finally marry him. Miranda beamed back up at him as the ceremony began and they became man and wife.  
  
=-=-=  
  
The rest of the evening dragged on for Lizzie, she had given up on interpreting the letter and now her brain was trying to come up with as many ways to tell Gordo as possible; as well as preparing for every possible reaction he might have. Scenarios, that's what the FBI called them, scenarios, all possible things that can happen and all possible outcomes.  
  
She imagined everything from Gordo breaking down into happy tears proclaiming that he had dreamed of her saying that for all these years to him being so angry that horns sprouted from his head and he began to spit fire. Finally she settled down in her room to work on some stuff for work while Emily and her mom curled up in her parents room to watch a movie and her dad painted gnomes downstairs. She wasn't sure what time she dozed off, one minute she was looking over some research for an article on childcare and the next thing she knew the phone was ringing. Without even thinking she leaned over to answer it.  
  
"Hello." She mumbled trying to shake the sleep away, maybe it was Miranda.  
  
"Lizzie?"   
  
"Gordo?" Lizzie was shocked and suspicious, as memories of her dream came flooding back. "Am I dreaming this?" she asked warily.  
  
"No," Gordo answered slowly sounding a bit confused, "if you are, then that means I'm not real."  
  
He sounded real enough, but Lizzie wanted to be sure so she pinched her arm, bit her tongue and rammed her foot into the side of the night stand, just to be safe. "Sonofa,"—yeah, this was real all right.   
  
Gordo hearing her yelp of pain became concerned, "Are you okay Lizzie?"  
  
"Yeah," Lizzie winced and shook her foot several times trying to make the throbbing stop. "I'm fine just…" just breaking my toe to make sure you're not a figment of my imagination "Never mind, what's up? How's your movie?"  
  
"Not quite as bad as I thought, but its going to take some work, I left detailed instructions for the next couple hours. I just," Gordo paused, "I had this feeling like you had something important to say and I felt bad about running out on you again." There was an uneasy pause, apparently he was deciding a better choice of words. "I kinda promised myself that I'd give you my full attention this weekend, well assuming that I was able to get it in the first place. I figure that this is the perfect time for my assistant to learn about bitter-sweet nature of film making." Gordo half laughed, remembering how much he hated doing grunt work for the 'professional' while in college.  
  
Lizzie knew how big of an adjustment he was making, during college he would only allow a select group of people into the editing booth, never asking for an outside opinion for the direction of his film. Well he did ask Lizzie from time to time, but she always knew that he was asking for her sake; at the least it was so she didn't feel neglected. She knew her response, it was always something to boost his ego, which was was the real issue.  
  
"Where are you?" Gordo's voice had a sort of urgency.   
  
"At my parents, but I was hoping I could meet you someplace where we can talk." Lizzie chewed on her lip for a second, thinking quickly. Her parents were pretty sound sleepers and she had a feeling that Emily had dozed off during the movie and was still in with them. It might work, she half convinced herself, which was all she needed at the moment.  
  
"Do you want to come here? We can talk in the backyard, if we're quiet."  
  
Gordo hesitated a second before answering,   
  
"Sure, I'll be over in about ten minutes."  
  
"Come through the back fence, and I'll meet you on the deck."  
  
"Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes."  
  
Lizzie hopped up and grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt to change into and pulled her hair into a ponytail. If she was going down she wasn't going to do it in pajamas and with bed head. Before heading downstairs Lizzie peeked into her parents room to make sure everyone was accounted for. She saw her mom and Emily and a lump on the far end of the bed she assumed was her father. Good, hopefully there wouldn't be any yelling or screaming to wake them up. Lizzie got downstairs and slipped onto the deck before realizing she still had about five minutes before Gordo was to arrive. As Lizzie sat gazing around the back yard she once again found memories crashing around her. The water fight after she lost the class president election, gazing at the stars with Gordo and Miranda after her unsuccessful attempt to set up Miranda and Ryan Adams. Heck all the times her and Gordo, and sometimes Miranda had lain in the backyard gazing at the stars, sharing secrets and gossip. The night of the Sadie Hawkins dance when her and Gordo had danced while good'ol Lanny played the piano; that had been a good night.   
  
Time, what was that Gordo used to say about time? It's the number one cause of death in the world? Lizzie couldn't remember, but she knew that time had changed everything over the past few years. The backyard was so innocent and now she was on the cusp of soiling this little sanctuary. She looked up at the night sky and took a deep breath. A small feeling of electricity ran through her stomach and her hands began to sweat. Biting her lip, she realized she was losing her nerve. I am going to do this she assured herself, good, bad, right or wrong, this was something that had to be done here and now. The stars in the night sky seemed to flicker in agreement with her thoughts. It was a beautiful moment, the calm before the storm, your last moment of Zen. And then she heard the soft whisper of her name; this is the way the argument begins, not with a bang, but with a whisper.   
  
-=-=-=   
  
Sitting on the back steps in the moonlight with a light breeze blowing a few stray wisps of hair across her face she looked so young and Gordo found himself wishing that they both were young again and he could redo all the past wrongs and make them right again. He knew he couldn't though, all he could do was try to make up for them the best that he could.   
  
"Lizzie" he said quietly, walking over and sitting next to her on the step. She smiled at him as he set down and she resisted the urge to push a few stray dark curls off of his forehead like she used to.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts?" Gordo finally asked noticing her silence.  
  
Lizzie shook her head, "I was just thinking about all the good times we had out here when we were kids."   
  
Gordo nodded and then laughed, "Remember that night we danced out here, well the first time. Then later Lanny ordered all those pizzas to that kids house...the one who shut down their club."  
  
"I was just thinking about that! You were in a nice suit and I was in a nice pair of golf shorts!"  
  
"You wore them well," Gordo admitted.   
  
"Thanks" Lizzie answered, rolling her eyes. They both lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. The silence seemed to be for those carefree days. They were gone and now they can only be remembered. Gordo reached down to grab a pebble and contemplated tossing it.   
  
"Nice night," Gordo finally broke the silence.  
  
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Lizzie replied.  
  
Again there was a moment of silence, only interrupted by the sound of the pebble Gordo had tossed. She smiled at him, he smiled back. Lizzie wondered why Gordo hadn't asked her what was so urgent. She kinda wished he would force it out of her, or at least provide a helping hand. She needed some kind of sign to let her know when to begin. She looked at the sky again and the stars flickered to her. Tell him now.   
  
"Gordo, I have to tell you something."  
  
Gordo nodded as though he already knew.  
  
"Please promise to let me finish, before you say anything, I've been practicing this for six years but I've never been able to figure out the best way to say it." Gordo nodded again, this time looking worried and confused; soon angry and betrayed would be added as well Lizzie thought.  
  
"Six years ago, after you left I was really messed up. Really scared and sad… and angry, very angry." Gordo nodded, it was the first time she had acknowledged her feelings from back them and he was almost relieved to finally hear her voice them.   
  
"Anyway, almost immediately I started feeling sick, a different kind of sick, but I thought it was just part of the stress and being upset, which some of it probably was. I moved to Boston with Miranda and Larry and got a job and began to put my life back together. Almost two months to the day after you left I went to the doctor because I still wasn't feeling well and I was scared. Anyways, they told me I was sick for a reason," Lizzie paused, trying to gauge how the next sentence would be received, "I was pregnant, three months along."   
  
Gordo's mouth fell open. Lizzie could tell he was trying to speak, but he couldn't seem to form words. She looked at him carefully to make sure he was still with her and kept going. "I was shocked, similar to how you must feel now, I guess," Lizzie tried to comfort him, "and I didn't know what to do and I didn't know how to find you, or if you wanted to be found, so—"  
  
Gordo finally found his voice and jumped in despite his promise to let her finish.  
  
"Lizzie, I'm so sorry… I didn't… you were alone, I mean you had Miranda, but..." Gordo paused for a moment while coming to an even greater realization, "You had an-"  
  
"No!' Lizzie broke in, noticing that he had used an AN instead of an A, "Gordo I didn't…"   
  
Gordo's face got even paler. "Oh god, it was too much stress, you lost it…you miss..."  
  
"NO," Lizzie tried again, "Gordo, listen I…"  
  
"You," Gordo eyed her and Lizzie could tell that he was going through some kind of mental check list, "...adoption...?" The word adoption came out less like a question and more like a realization. "I don't know what...to do Lizzie. I thought I had a chance of making things right, but I don't know how to deal with this." Tears started to fall on his cheeks and a look of defeat filled his face, "Can you ever forgive me?"  
  
"NO!" Lizzie said as loud as she dared not wanting to wake anyone up.   
  
"I understand," Gordo clasped his hands tighter to his face, not even looking at Lizzie anymore.  
  
"No, Gordo I…" she closed her eyes, here we go " Gordo, I kept the baby." His face quickly went from guilt, and anguish, to utter confusion.  
  
"I don't understand," his mental checklist had only one more option, "if you…"   
  
"I kept the baby Gordo." She said again, much more bluntly and she could see shocked realization begin to creep onto his face.  
  
"You kept it?" He tried again to understand.  
  
"Her" Lizzie corrected him, her voice beginning to wobble, "and she's not a baby anymore, she's five, well five and a half. Her birthday is in January…January 16th. Her name is Emily. She has blonde curls and blue eyes, she's beautiful." By now tears were beginning to form and her voice broke.  
  
"Where is she?" Gordo asked in a strange quiet raspy voice Lizzie had never heard before.  
  
"Upstairs…asleep."   
  
**  
  
Upstairs, Emily was sound asleep and looked almost lifeless except for the slight twitch in her nose. She was dreaming of aunt Miranda preparing a meal of her most feared vegetable: cabbage. The smell of boiling cabbage always made Emily nauseous and in her dream she felt as though she could not only smell it, she could also see it. It was a green mist slowly swirling around her in a manner that reminded her of how birds, or fish, move; chaotic yet organized. The mist began to form into the shape of a person and slowly she recognized who it was, the wicked witch of the west. She started to come towards Emily with a menacing look on her face; this caused Emily to lean back in the chair she was sitting in. Finally the witch got so close, with green cabbage smelling breath flowing into Emily's nostrils, that she spilled out of her chair and on to the floor.  
  
Emily woke with a pleasant start. She felt relieved that it was just a dream as the last bits of cabbage odor left her nose. Her senses were usually not so keen when she first woke up, but the phantom smell of cabbage kept them awake. She closed her eyes again and tried to think of happy thoughts. She couldn't sleep, for a moment she grew scared, voices were coming from downstairs and all she could think of was the witch again. She was downstairs! Emily pulled the covers over her head to shield her from the witch. If she can't see me, she thought, she won't know I'm here. The voices began to get louder, though they were still in a whisper. She recognized her mother's voice and suddenly felt very relieved. She sat up and with a big smile on her face she waited for her mom to poke her head in. If she were lucky, mommy would smile and ask her what was the matter. Emily would ask for a glass of water and then ask for one of those rare late night stories. Not the kind in books, but the kind that mommy would make up on the spot. Sometimes the stories were entertaining and sometimes they were not, however, she really couldn't judge because she never stayed awake long enough to hear the exciting conclusion.   
  
Emily's smile faded as she heard another voice, a man's voice. She strained and finally concluded that it was not Matt or grandpa, or anyone else she knew for that matter. Then who was it? The voices became louder and Emily quickly ducked under the covers and pretended to be asleep again. She could tell by the tone of mommy's voice that something was wrong, not in a bad way, but wrong nonetheless. Emily stayed curled up, lost in thought about what was going on, when she realized that the voices had stopped and a faint metal sound clicked. It was the doorknob, they were coming in.  
  
"So this is her," a whispering voice acknowledged, "...my daughter? 


	12. The Calm Before the Storm

A/N: Sorry it took longer than I thought…school…enough said! This chapter is kind of a slower chapter, but I thought it was necessary to make the next chapter more plausible. This one is extremely long, sorry about that! But enjoy! Oh and I do not own Lizzie McGuire or most of the characters, Disney does. (I forgot that before)  
  
Chapter 12 The Calm Before the Storm  
  
Lizzie didn't know what had possessed her to let Gordo go upstairs and see Emily; it was extremely risky. If her parents woke up they would be horrified; they were still under the impression that Gordo had abandoned Lizzie. To avoid that mess, the whole, real story would have to come out to all of them and Lizzie didn't think she could handle that much drama tonight; she needed Miranda. She tried explaining to him that it was too late, that he could see her later and that she didn't want to wake her parents, but in the end she relented. It was easier than continuing to argue about it and wake everyone one up that way. She didn't want Emily's first meeting with her father to be while he was fighting with her mother.   
  
So up the stairs they tiptoed and Lizzie softly pushed open the door to her parents room and flipped on the hall light so he could see. Emily had burrowed down into the blankets, but a portion of her face was still visible as well as her blonde ringlets. Gordo took a brief look and stepped back looking even more shocked than he had before. He whispered something that she could not make out before looking briefly over at Lizzie. What was that look? She felt her stomach tighten up when she saw that his eyes had grown dark; the curiousness that his face had held a few moments before was removed and in its place was a look of realization.  
  
"I have to leave." He whispered turning and heading back down the stairs. Lizzie's heart began to sink as he retreated. It was déjà vu, New York, six years ago and her dream from only a few days before; all of it, all over again. She quietly shut the door to her parent's room, flipped off the light and followed down the stairs after Gordo.   
  
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the backdoor was slightly open and when she opened it she half expected him to be standing in the back yard waiting for her. He was not. The night had grown dark and all she could make out was his shadowy figure and if not for the soft swooshing of grass beneath his feet she might not have been able to locate him at all. He was nearing the fence when Lizzie finally caught up with him.  
  
"Gordo wait!" she called as loudly as she dared and when he still didn't turn around she summoned all that she could allow. "GORDO!"  
  
Finally he stopped and turned to face her.   
  
"What?"   
  
Lizzie was surprised by the coldness in his voice. Before, he had looked too shocked to seem that angry. "I…where are you going? I thought that maybe we could talk about this. If you want." Her voice carried a hint of desperation.  
  
"I can't talk to you right now Lizzie, I…I don't know what to think right now or how I feel, if I talk right now I won't know what I'm saying and I don't want to do anything, or say anything that I might regret." He shrugged and shook his head, "I can't do this."   
  
"Gordo!" Lizzie tried again trying to keep control of her voice; at this moment she wasn't sure if it was sadness or worry that was trying to break free.  
  
Faintly she heard his voice. "I'll call you...tomorrow." He turned and began walking again. With each step he took, the darkness of the night covered him more and more until he was no longer visible, only the soft swooshing of the grass gave her comfort that he was still near, but soon that was gone as well and she was alone. Lizzie walked back and sank onto the porch finally letting the tears that had been building up fall.  
  
=-=-=  
  
Gordo made it back to his car but just stood staring for several moments, alternating his gaze between the car and back at the McGuire house. The house where he and Lizzie had had so many great times and now the house was where his daughter was. The concept of a child had yet to really sink in, sure he had seen a mass of curls and a small shadowy face, but the concept of that being his child had yet to register.   
  
When Lizzie had said that she needed to tell him something he was thinking that maybe she had been married or what he had been truly hoping for that she was still in love with him, or even rejection. These were things that he had prepared himself for. A child though, that thought had never even appeared on the radar in his mind. Having a child is something that occurs over a lifetime and now he had found out he was going to be a father, had a baby, had a five year old, a five-and-a-half year old, in the blink of an eye; it was something that he wasn't able to handle, at least not yet.  
  
As he finally unlocked the door to his car he gave one last look back and got a funny feeling that he was running away again. He wasn't though, he promised himself. He would be back, he had to come back, but he couldn't talk to Lizzie right then. He felt to confused, his emotions were a huge ball of shock, confusion, betray, anger and guilt. The guilt was the one that was killing him. He couldn't figure out why he felt guilty, Lizzie had the secret. Lizzie had lied, Lizzie had betrayed him, but he felt guilty? That wasn't right. Gordo knew that talking to her now would be counter productive. He couldn't face her until he knew how he felt and what he wanted. Hell, he hadn't asked for this kid, until about twenty minutes ago he didn't even know of her existence and now he was her father. That didn't sit well with Gordo, but he would be back.   
  
"How can I have a five year old daughter, I never had a baby?"   
  
The sound of his voice startled him and he realized that he was beginning to think in circles; this was always an indication that it was time to stop thinking and time to be distracted. He shook his head as though he were trying to shake some excess thoughts and then rested his head on the steering wheel. Closing his eyes he could see those curls again, they had looked dark, like his, but he knew it was a trick of the lighting, they were blonde.   
  
His daughter, how strange was it to think like that, like you have a kid, like a parent. Gordo shuddered at the thought. Sure he liked kids, he had always known that someday he would have children of his own. From the time he was ten he had known that he would have children with Lizzie someday. This, however was not how he had pictured it, and besides that, he wasn't ready to be a father. He had a hard enough time taking care of himself, let alone a kid. That might not be an issue though, he thought to himself, apparently Lizzie had had no trouble doing it without him for the last six years. Gordo gripped the steering wheel even tighter as a fresh wave of confusion washed over him. Five-and-a-half years, no wait, six years? She had been pregnant for a few months after he left. She had waited six years to decide that he ought to be included in on this little event? How thoughtful of her.   
  
"This isn't productive, you are thinking in circles again," Gordo told himself this as he lifted his head from the steering wheel. He knew what he wanted to do more than anything at this moment. He couldn't talk to her tonight, he couldn't focus on work, and there was no way in hell in would ever be able to sleep, so he simply drove until he found a nice long stretch of beach and walked until morning.  
  
=-=-=  
  
Lizzie sat on the porch until she heard him leave. When she didn't hear him leave right away she hoped that it meant he had changed his mind and was coming back. He had not. She finally heard his car door slam and, and more than a few moments later, his car back out of the driveway.   
  
It was then that she decided that it was time to go in and try to get some sleep, there was nothing else she could tonight, the ball was now in Gordo's court. Lizzie wiped away a few lingering tears and got up to go in. As she began to make her way up the stairs she heard a small crash followed by a surprised yelp that sounded a lot like her father.   
  
"Cobras!"  
  
Lizzie hurried into the living room and she heard her mother get up as well. Lizzie found her father sprawled on the ground by the couch surrounded by three of his prize gnomes.  
  
"DAD!" Lizzie exclaimed running to help him up, "are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah," Sam replied pushing his glasses back up his nose, "I think I dozed off and then...rolled off of the couch."  
  
"You were down here this whole time?" Lizzie asked, trying to hide the panic that was creeping into her voice. What had he seen or heard?  
  
"Whole time?" Sam asked rubbing his upper lip, obviously still groggy, "What did I miss, where are the cobras?"  
  
"Cobras?!" Lizzie asked jumping back before realizing that he must have been dreaming. "I think you were drea...," Lizzie began but was cut off by the sound of her mothers voice.  
  
"SAM! What are you doing down here?" Jo hissed from up the stairs.  
  
"Sorry sweetheart, I was working on my gnomes and dozed off and then when I went upstairs, you and Emily were already asleep. I didn't want to wake you so I came back down here for the night."  
  
There was a pause before Jo whispered back, "Sorry about that, Emily fell asleep on my arm and I didn't want to wake her." Her voice got a little louder as she made her way down the stairs. Once at the bottom, Jo's eyes focused on her daughter, not in pajamas, but fully clothed and with slightly red puffy eyes.  
  
"Lizzie, what are you doing down here?" Lizzie's mom walked over to her, "Are you okay, your eyes are all red?"  
  
"Sure mom" Lizzie replied in her most convincing voice, while backing away, "I couldn't sleep so I sat outside for a few minutes." Her mother looked at her for a second with that—I don't believe a word of this look—and pressed on.   
  
"Why are your eyes red, it looks like you've been crying?"  
  
"Oh that, " Lizzie gave, what she hoped was a lighthearted laugh, "something got in my eye, I think it was a piece of a leaf, and it took me a second to get it out, and my eyes started watering pretty bad. That's why I came in." Too many details, Lizzie thought to herself.  
  
Her mothers look suggested that she wasn't completely buying Lizzie's story so Lizzie decided to make a quick run for it. "So I'm going to go get Emily and take her back to our room so that dad can go to bed, night guys" Lizzie took off up the stairs before her parents had time to say anything else.  
  
Jo gave Sam a look of concern but the look was not met. Sam was still brushing himself off and looking warily at the floor.  
  
"Be careful honey, there may be snakes."  
  
=-=-=  
  
Once upstairs, Lizzie went into her parents room to collect Emily and to her surprise found the little girl already awake.  
  
"Hey munchkin, what are you doing awake?" Lizzie sat down on the bed next to Emily and leaned over to kiss her cheek, which she noticed seemed a little warm. "Are you feeling okay Em? You feel warm."  
  
"I'm okay mommy." Emily studied her mother for a moment, very glad that she had come to get her. Emily had started to feel a little scared, even with her grandmother there with her.  
  
"I was downstairs, doing some work, but it's time for us to go to bed, lets get you back into our room."  
  
"Carry me!" Emily whined pitifully lifting her arms up to her Lizzie.  
  
"I don't know babe, you're getting heavy. I think you can walk." Emily's lower lip began to quiver  
  
"Please mommy?" Emily begged one more time.  
  
Lizzie sighed and reached down to pick her up. "Okay, come on." Lizzie ran into her parents who were coming upstairs for the night as she made her way with Emily down to room.  
  
"Goodnight sweethearts." Her mom said kissing her cheek and then Emily's. Lizzie smiled and hoped that her mom would let everything from that night drop.  
  
"Good night Em" Her dad was next as he kissed the top of Emily's head and than looked at Lizzie. "You know that you can tell us anything, right?" Lizzie began to feel nervous as the thoughts of what he may or may not have witnessed tonight.  
  
"Sure dad, I know."   
  
Her dad looked at second longer and than nodded, "Okay, good night sweetheart, I mean sweethearts." Lizzie let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. If he did know something, he was doing a good job of looking like he didn't.   
  
"Mommy," a little voice from Lizzie's shoulder spoke, "will you tell me a story?"  
  
Lizzie looked down at Emily and smiled.   
  
=-=-=  
  
So there it is, Gordo thought to himself as he watched the sun slowly rise over the waves of the ocean. The waves seemed to be carrying the first rays of sunlight directly to him and he felt the most peace he had felt in a while. Although there was peace there was inner turmoil as well. He had questions, many questions, and he wanted answers.   
  
Although he had no idea what time it was now, he had a reasonable guess that it was after six and if he could get home within the hour, he could sleep, take a shower and face the situation with better focus. He had spent the entire night walking on the beach as though somewhere the answer to his problems lay buried in the sand. Even if he had not figured anything out, he had at least taken time to think and not act on unreliable emotions that he had felt only a few hours ago. The last time he had acted rashly on emotion instead of reason he had walked out on the love of his life; and unknowingly, his own child.  
  
That night, six years ago, had been playing in his head repeatedly since he had left Lizzie a few hours ago and he had developed a feeling of anger. He wasn't sure, however, if it was justifiable. Lizzie had given him the ultimatum; your movies or me. Only recently he had realized that now he would have made the right choice, her, but at the time he had at least walked out on her when she knew the possible outcome. He had not, nevertheless, walked out on his child; he would have had to know about it before that was possible. He may not have been innocent, but he had been ignorant and you cannot hold a person responsible if they were never informed. He could hold Lizzie responsible. She had, after all, shown a high level of immaturity in the situation.  
  
He had unknowingly abandoned his daughter for six years thanks to Lizzie, and it was hanging heavy over his head. If given the chance, he was the kind of person who would do the right thing in a given situation. In this particular situation, he had not been given the chance and because of that he felt helpless and angry. He was also reasonable because he knew that the situation was imperfect. He had walked out and effectively severed ties with her the moment the door had shut behind him. The months following, he had almost all forms of communication cut off and it would have been impossible for her to locate him. On the other hand, she could have, at the very least, gotten in touch with his parents and set the situation straight; they were, after all, Emily's grandparents.  
  
The sun was fully over the horizon now and Gordo stood up to leave. Another thought had not yet entered his head but would soon been completely open for discussion. What had she told her parents about their child? Did they know the truth or had she lied? These thoughts, however, had escaped him to this point but if they hadn't he probably would have been more cautious as he approached the McGuire's front door later that evening.  
  
=-=-=  
  
Lizzie awoke the next morning to an empty bed and the sounds of the TV going downstairs and the voices of her parents and Emily and she also thought she may have heard Matt mixed in with all of that. She lay in bed for a few minutes, not yet ready to face the problems that this day would present.   
  
Gordo had been angry last night, he may not of even realized it when he left, but Lizzie could see it deep in his eyes. He had been in deep shock, not yet able to pin point his emotion, but Lizzie had seen it. Gordo would be back, and when he did, odds are he'd be looking for a something she couldn't give him.  
  
An explanation? Six Years?  
  
She hoped he wouldn't do it in front of her parents, who when they found out that Lizzie had never told Gordo about Emily and that she had let them think that she had would be almost as mad, if not more. After all she had lied right to their face, with Gordo it had been more like withholding a piece of information. She was also worried about Emily, if Gordo did calm down enough how would Lizzie explain this to her? She was only five, she had only known having a mom and she rarely questioned that. Emily had always been accepting of the way things were. Now…Lizzie covered her face just thinking about it.   
  
"Hey Lizard breath, does your baby have a daddy yet?" Lizzie sat up straight in bed and found her younger brother smirking at her from the doorway.   
  
"MATT!" Lizzie hissed, "keep your voice down."  
  
"Relax," he waved her off as he walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed, "Mom's showing Emily how to water the garden and dad is setting up his new lawn gnomes." He paused, eyeing her, "do you ever take care of your kid? Every time I'm here she's with mom or dad and you're asleep or doing nothing." Lizzie scowled at him and hit him over the head with a pillow.  
  
"YES, I do, but mom likes taking care of her while we're here, she doesn't get to much."  
  
"Whatever." Matt shrugged and looked around a minute before continuing. "So what happened with Gordo yesterday, or as I like to call it 'Days of all my Children and the Restless.'"  
  
Lizzie glared at her brother. "You know Matt," Lizzie had a very annoyed tone, "this is serious, this is my life and Gordo's life and most of all it's Emily's life so if you are not going to take it seriously then butt out!"   
  
Matt looked surprised by her outburst and then a little ashamed. "Sorry Lizzie, I really want to know. I just thought maybe you could use a little humor." His voice sounded sincere and the apologetic look on his face confirmed it.  
  
"Fine," Lizzie eyeballed him for a moment before finishing. "I didn't have the nerve to tell him yesterday afternoon until he dropped me off and just before I could tell him he got a call about an emergency with his film and had to leave."  
  
"Talk about bad timing," Matt stated matter-of-factly.  
  
Lizzie nodded, "then he came back in the middle of the night and I told him and he was in shock and he wanted to see her so I let him peek in and then he kind of freaked and left, he looked confused and angry but he said he would call me today but he hasn't yet. On top of that I don't have Miranda, or even Larry, to help explain the situation."  
  
Matt looked a bit taken aback by the last part of Lizzie's sudden monologue and then thought about it for a moment. "Did Emily see him?"  
  
Lizzie shook her head no, "She was asleep."  
  
"Did mom and Dad?"  
  
"No, thank god, they would have freaked, and it turns out Dad was downstairs asleep on the couch the whole time." She shook her head in despair, "if he had woken up and seen him, or if Emily had…I don't know. I have a feeling a lot is going to go down today, if he calls, which he might not, hell I may never hear from him again."  
  
"Gordo's not like that." Matt assured her, "Even if he is angry right now, in the end, he'll do what's right"  
  
Lizzie nodded slowly and gave Matt a small smile.   
  
Matt shrugged as if to say no problem. "Hey," Matt spoke up "why don't you let me take Emily for the day, I'm meeting Melina and Lanny in a little while. She can hang out with us." Lizzie quickly shook her head no.  
  
"No way Matt, not after last time."   
  
"What happened last time?" Matt asked indignantly.  
  
"You said you were taking my three year old for ice cream and the next thing I know she's on the news playing with a police car siren while eye witness video shows you dropkick some mugger in the Baskin Robbins parking lot. Anything beginning to ring a bell?"   
  
"Oh yeah," a slow grin spread across Matt's face, "look it was a quick bust, she got free ice cream and she got to play with a police siren, and she was perfectly safe."  
  
"How was she 'perfectly' safe?" Lizzie asked sarcastically.  
  
"Melina had her. Duh."  
  
Lizzie looked as though she knew he had a good point yet didn't want to admit it. To be honest, she didn't mind Matt watching Emily, he was reliable and he knew more than a few forms of martial arts. It was just that she knew there should be at least one adult to chaperon them at all times.  
  
"C'mon." Matt, sensing that he had a very good argument, dug a little deeper. "Look, today all I'm doing is meeting Melina and Lanny at a carnival in the city. We're going to look for place to set up surveillance for a sting tomorrow night. We're looking for places that's it. We won't even have any weapons, unless you count Melina, and some people do. It will take twenty minutes tops and then we're off the rest of the day. We'll let her play at the carnival, go to the movies or the beach or whatever." Matt could tell that Lizzie was starting to give in so he threw in the sinker, "besides you said it yourself, Gordo may come by, do you really want her around if…it all hits the fan?"   
  
God, she hated when Matt was right."Fine, you can take her," Lizzie finally gave in, "but Matthew McGuire if anything, ANYTHING, crazy happens around my kid that was brought on by you, or a member of your insane dork posse, I will hold you responsible and I will personally rip your head off, got it?" By then Lizzie had gotten out of bed and had Matt cornered against the wall. Matt nodded quickly, Lizzie had developed that scary mom thing and she looked serious.  
  
"Yes ma'am."  
  
Downstairs, the door bell rang and for a moment a look of fright covered Lizzie's face. "Ah," Matt began in his best English accent, "The doorbell, I'll be getting that!" And then, sensing her fear, he reassured her, "That's just Lanny, I got off my cell phone with him a few minutes ago; he brought breakfast."  
  
Lizzie's face relaxed and her posture slumped. She looked at Matt, "Thanks for doing this, I think I'll feel a lot better when Emily is out of harms way."  
  
"No prob', bob...sis," Matt said as he began to leave the room, "We'll take care of her. She is in the hands of trained professionals."  
  
"Speaking of," Lizzie eyeballed him again, "no more interrogation lessons okay?"  
  
"What," Matt started but was cut off.  
  
"She managed to get two of her birthday presents out of me this year and I know exactly where she learned it."  
  
Matt's nodded slowly with a slight upward curve crossing his mouth. To Lizzie, he was beaming; he had the proud look of a teacher who has just found out their student is a prodigy. "Hey, she's a natural and you should be encouraging her talents…"  
  
"MATT!" Lizzie picked up a chunky heel laying in the floor by her foot and aimed it at Matt in a threatening manner.  
  
"Okay, okay" he relented backing out the door, "no interrogation lessons. We'll leave those to the professionals."  
  
"Dork isn't a profession," Lizzie mumbled to herself.   
  
"I heard that!"   
  
=-=-=  
  
By three that afternoon, Lizzie had the house to herself. Matt, Lanny and Melina had taken Emily earlier in the day and she had made them swear, with hands over their hearts, to have Emily back in one piece later that day. On top of bringing her back in one piece, Matt had told her that he would make periodic calls later to see if it was a good time to comeback.   
  
There had been a very explicit list of items that Matt thought Emily might need during the day. She had been told to include two changes of clothes, a bathing suit, rain coat, sweat shirt, a pair of pajamas, sun screen, bug repellent, four juice boxes, a box of goldfish, college-ruled paper, markers, a camera, a red hat, a box of chalk, construction paper, string, a glue stick, and $20 dollars. What was this, a scavenger hunt? She didn't mind however, looking around for everything kept her mind off of other things. Matt had taken a quick look through the bag, when she had finally finished, and when he had determined everything was in there he had given her the thumbs up and told Lanny to fork over five dollars.   
  
Lizzie hadn't seen Emily too much this morning, her dad had been giving Emily the inside info on how to correctly determine the difference between a lawn gnome and a house elf. Lizzie's mom had been showing Emily how to correctly trim roses and Emily had brought trimmed roses to Lizzie, Matt and Lanny. She had also trimmed one for Melina who was not there yet.   
  
Melina had finally shown up, however she had not come in, she had parked next to the curb and honked the horn to let them know she was there. Melina also had a Bronco, but hers was in much better condition than Matt's. Lizzie wondered how far the one upsmanship went in their relationship. This question was answered when she saw Melina make Matt sit in the back, where there were no seats and lots of equipment, in favor of Emily, who got to sit in the front.   
  
Emily's head had turned to Melina, as though she were receiving some instructions, and a moment later she looked to be surveying the front dash. A loud siren went off and Lanny, who had been loading up his stuff out side, stumbled backward, hamming it up for Emily. From the house, Lizzie had seen a large smile form on Emily's mouth and Lizzie felt relieved. Emily hadn't seemed very upbeat this morning. In the brief time Lizzie and her were together, she had noticed the little girl seemed to be lost in thought. A book had laid at her lap and she seemed to have no interest in it. When Lizzie asked if she was ok, Emily had slowly responded that she was reading. Lizzie kissed her on the forehead and gave her a hug. When Emily had smiled, she felt a little better because it was a genuine smile. After a day with Matt she would be full of giggles, Lizzie reassured herself.  
  
A few hours later, Lizzie's parents had realized that they needed a few items for the garden. Her dad needed corn silk which would be hair his girl gnomes; he was making one of Lizzie and Emily. Lizzie had though about telling him to get curly brown yarn as well. Her mother needed more fertilizer and decided to go with him to their favorite store, Garden World.   
  
Now that she was alone and Lizzie was beginning to wonder if Gordo was still going to call; several times already, she had double checked her cell phone to make sure it was still on. It was. She began to pace across the carpet in her room and by the time she heard a door slam out side she had begun to wear a trail across the carpet in her room. She ran downstairs relieved that Gordo had the insight to show up when her parents were out, but that relief disappeared when she saw her dad at the door.  
  
"I forgot my wallet," Sam started, and then looked at Lizzie; her face held the same look of panic that Matt had seen a few hours before. Over her fathers shoulder, Lizzie saw a car pull up against the curb and a door slowly open. Before she saw his curly hair peak out over the tinted windows she knew who it was. 


	13. Moms and Dads

A/N: I know what you're all thinking, "oh my god, that bum updated!" I know it's been forever, but I have been really busy with school and work. Also this was a really hard chapter to write, there are some pretty intense moments and I wanted them to sound as real as possible. So I guess now you get to be the judge. I also wanted to add some humor so I added a little Larry/Miranda fluff. Oh and I do realize that what Miranda does with the tickets is not possible I needed it for the story so in my world it's okay. Anyways I hope you all enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire, I promise.  
  
Chapter 13 Moms and Dads  
  
Somewhere in Eastern California  
  
Miranda stretched her legs out in front of her and sighed for what seemed like the millionth time in the last three hours. Larry looked sideways at her for a moment and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his new bride. It had been a frantic morning that had started at five a.m. when Larry had awoken to find an empty bed and Miranda's silhouette pacing back and forth across the dark hotel room.  
  
"Miranda? Are you okay?" Larry had struggled to sit up and think clearly, but his mind was still a tad foggy from the complimentary champagne they had received the night before.  
  
"Yeah," her voice squeaked, "fine."  
  
Foggy or not, the idea of his wife pacing this early didn't seem normal, "Isn't it a little early for your morning jog?"  
  
"We need to get back to Hilldridge, I cannot believe I left Lizzie there right now, she needs me." Larry fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling; maybe I'm dreaming he thought to himself, it's too early and I think I might still have a champagne buzz.  
  
"Larry!" Miranda barked.  
  
"Sweetie, we talked about this she'll be fine, these two days were going to be about us." Miranda came over, and climbed on the bed next to him.  
  
"I know, and I'm sorry. Yesterday was great, I am so happy, but I just…I dunno I just feel like we need to get back there. I feel like she needs me." Larry reached over and put his arm around her waist pulling her down next to him.   
  
"Miranda, it is five in the morning I have a feeling that nothing of great importance is going on there right now. Go back to sleep, we'll be back later this evening."   
  
Miranda struggled to sit back up, "I don't want to wait that long, can't we leave earlier?"   
  
"What do you mean by earlier?" Larry gazed up at her warily.  
  
Miranda hesitated a moment before answering "Now?" It came out as more of a question than an answer.  
  
"NOW?!" This got Larry to sit up in bed next to her, "Our tickets aren't until four this afternoon, I don't even know when the first plane leaves for LA and we'd have to get new tickets."   
  
"No, we still have the rental car from yesterday, I can just call the car company and extend it another day; we can drive."  
  
The idea of driving through the desert with a borderline hysterical wife wasn't at the top of Larry's to do list. "Drive? It is probably at least a six-hour drive, through the desert. That won't be saving us any time."  
  
"If we leave by six a.m. we'll miss traffic and we can be back by early afternoon. It would be much earlier than if we waited and left at four p.m. by plane."   
  
Larry groaned, realizing this wasn't some bad dream, he knew she was serious.  
  
Miranda felt bad doing this, they had after all been married less than twelve hours, but she was desperate, so she pulled out the puppy dog eyes and a pathetic "please."  
  
"Oh no, not the puppy dog eyes, we're married now, I got the girl, I am now resistant to your womanly Jedi mind tricks."   
  
"Please?" Miranda asked again, this time puffing her lower lip out just a tad; too much lip was over the top and took away your credibility. Just a hint of lip, big eyes and reaching out to touch his hand was the perfect recipe for success.   
  
Larry stared at her for a moment, before giving in, he knew he had lost, why prolong the torment? He also knew that once he was awake, he wouldn't be able to fall asleep and the last thing he wanted to do was watch the rising sun reflecting on the tears of his new wife. He wondered, quickly, what the fine for disobeying your new wife was. Would she make him watch a weeks worth of tivo'd Oprah? He knew she didn't like the show, but would do it out of spite. "Fine," he conceded. "We'll leave…"  
  
Miranda's face lit up and she threw her arms around him, "I love you so much, you're a good man Larry Tudgeman!"   
  
Larry couldn't help but laugh, "and you are a conniving little wench Miranda Sanchez Tudgeman, a beautiful one, but still…" he pretended to shake his head sadly. Miranda laughed as well as she hopped up and began to get dressed, "oh you know you love it!"  
  
"Yeah," Larry replied to himself, "but what are we going to do with our airline tickets?" Miranda stopped to think for a moment and then smiled mischievously as she stepped into a pair of flip flops.   
  
"You just get dressed and I'll take care of the tickets." She ran to her purse and pulled out the tickets and her wallet. "Be dressed in 20 minutes, I'll bring up some breakfast and then we can leave." With that she blew him a kiss and left Larry still sitting in bed. He watched the door close and looked longingly at the pillows but went on and forced himself to take a shower. I must really love her, he thought to himself.  
  
Twenty minutes later Miranda bounced back through the door minus the airline tickets, but she was holding a plate loaded with Danishes as well as two large cups of coffee. Larry was packing, tossing the last few things in their bags, and watching early morning cartoons. He happily accepted the cup of coffee and a doughnut before finally asking the obvious question, "What did you do with the airline tickets Houdini?"  
  
"Sold them!" Miranda answered proudly as she sipped her coffee and searched for any last minute items.   
  
"To whom?" Larry asked curiously, almost afraid of the answer.  
  
"Larry, did you get the soaps and towels out of the bathroom?"  
  
"Yeah, I got the soaps. Towels? I think those belong to the hotel?" Larry paused, "who did you sell the tickets to?"  
  
"Make sure you get the light bulbs from the lamps," Miranda continued to pack.  
  
"Light bulbs? Hey, while I'm at it, why not take that lovely wall mounted air conditioner or the television?" Larry shook his head.  
  
"Don't be silly, the rental car is too small for those. Grab a pillow for me though, so I can try to sleep in the car." Miranda continued to pack nonchalantly.   
  
"Pillow? No, not pillow, tickets! What did you do with the tickets?"  
  
"Some kids." Miranda shrugged and lined the bags up by the door.  
  
"What kids, and how did you find these people? Am I going to be seeing this on the 5 o'clock news?"  
  
Ignoring the last part of his question, she began, "I just stood right outside the casino and asked if anyone needed to get to LA, it didn't take long to find some buyers. They were so cute Larry, this guy and girl, probably about 21, it was their first trip to Las Vegas and they decided to get married too! Anyways, they needed to get to LA to tell her parents the big news."  
  
"Right…well I'm sure her parents will be thrilled… or horrified, whatever."  
  
"You have no sense of romance!"  
  
"Yes, well I'm beginning to think I have no sense at all letting you talk me into this, so lets just get going, before I drag you back to bed."   
  
So here they were now, three hours later, still about four hours away thanks to some bad map reading, Miranda, frequent bathroom and food stops, Larry, and a traffic warning for speeding, Miranda.   
  
Miranda sighed, again. Finally Larry decided enough was enough. "Look, I'm sorry this is taking so long, but I'm trying to get us there as fast as I can, and no I am not going to go any faster, one warning ticket is enough and I don't want to add an actual ticket to the list."   
  
Miranda opened her mouth like she was going to argue but instead looked away and spoke. "No I'm sorry, I know I've been a pain, I'm just worried. I just had this sick feeling in my stomach this morning. I know it must mean that something's wrong"  
  
"Yeah, I had that feeling too. Maybe it was the champagne and flan."  
  
"I'm being serious Larry."  
  
"Yeah, I know, but really what is the worst that could be going on?"  
  
Miranda shrugged as she laid her head back against the head rest, "Larry, where's that pillow I asked you to borrow?"  
  
=-=-=  
  
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…  
  
=-=-=  
  
"What's wrong Lizzie?" Her dad asked with a hint of concern in his voice.  
  
Lizzie, realizing that as soon as Gordo slammed the door, her dad would hear it, turn around, and a series of unfortunate events would begin. The door slammed, Lizzie's eyes widened, her dad stood there smiling. He hadn't heard the door slam; he was just standing there with his goofy dad smile. Something had gone in Lizzie's favor, maybe that was a good sign.   
  
Good sign or not, another problem was now arising; Gordo was making his way up the lawn. Almost as a reaction, Lizzie lurched forward and gave her dad a big hug. With this gesture, Lizzie effectively distracted her father and conveyed to Gordo to stop with a stop hand gesture behind her dad's back.  
  
"What's up," her dad had a slightly amused tone to his voice.  
  
"Nothing," Lizzie paused to think of a half-truth, "I just wanted to thank you and mom for helping me take care of Emily this weekend."  
  
"You don't have to thank us Lizzie, we are her grandparents, and this is what we do." Her dad smiled, " Now if you'll excuse me I gotta go help your mom with getting the fertilizer open. She's probably outback thinking I've gone to sleep in the car again."  
  
"She isn't at the store?" Lizzie asked.  
  
"No, she had enough money on her for the fertilizer, but the corn silk is a little pricey, so I'll have to go back and get it in a few minutes. We cannot get princess gnome finished without it, and I don't want the rest of the neighborhood thinking I've gone crazy putting a princess gnome on the lawn without corn silk hair." Sam motioned a twirling finger around his ear. Lizzie nodded. There were many things about her father that Lizzie didn't understand, but when it came to lawn gnomes, she at least knew that he was an expert; yes this bizarre hobby did have its experts.   
  
"Thanks for the hug, and remember that your mother and I are here for you." Without even turning around to shut the front door, Sam went out to the backyard. Lizzie finally let out her breath and stepped outside closing the door behind her.   
  
Gordo began making his way up the lawn again.   
  
"What are you doing here?" Lizzie asked as Gordo approached her, confusion written on his face. "I thought you were going to call first."   
  
Gordo shrugged carelessly, "I didn't realize this was by appointment only." Gordo looked around the entryway of the house. A long time had passed since he had last seen the house in daylight; the images brought back a flood of memories. He put them aside for the moment, "What's the deal with your dad?"  
  
Lizzie opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to find a decent sounding explanation. "Well, I just…we just have a lot to talk about and I didn't want to bring anyone else into all this yet."  
  
Gordo shook his head; the memories of this house wearing off allowed him to think more rational. "To late, you know, there's already a five year old involved." He began to make his way to the familiar setting of the kitchen and dining room.  
  
"Gordo!" Lizzie hissed, as Gordo approached the dining room. Chasing him inside she succeeded in pulling him into the living room, which was the only room not visible from the large windows leading to the backyard. Gordo was a bit taken a back as he briefly glanced around and found himself staring at several pictures of a little blonde curly top that he assumed was Emily, his daughter. The night before the little face he had seen had been shadowy and he had made out very few details. Now he saw her everywhere, at several different ages, and in vivid detail.   
  
"Lizzie," Gordo started to speak, but noticing that she wasn't paying attention to him he stopped. Frustrated, he tried moving to go stand in front of her to get her to notice him but all she did was push him back out of sight.   
  
"That's it. Lizzie, what is the deal? Do you want me to leave; do you not want to talk?" Catching a glimpse, from the living room doorway, of the two people in the back yard, he asked, "Why…why don't you want your parents to see me?"   
  
Lizzie turned around. The look on her face said that he was on to something.  
  
"You don't want your parents to see me. For your protection or for mine?"   
  
Lizzie finally found her voice. "No Gordo they don't hate you because of the break up, they don't understand everything yet. They..."  
  
"Hate me? Why would they…"  
  
"Hey guys," Sam said as he passed obviously oblivious to the scene presently unfolding in the living room.  
  
Lizzie felt her self stiffen and her breakfast threatened to make an encore appearance. They both watched her father make it half way up the stairs quietly muttering to himself before he stopped dead in his tracks and said again much louder "GORDO?"  
  
"3…2…1" Lizzie muttered to herself under her breath as her fathers footsteps began to reverse back down the stairs. "David Gordon?!"  
  
"And Houston we have a problem." Lizzie muttered a little louder than she had planned. Gordo turned and looked at her. The expression on Lizzies face said it all; another untold part in this ever evolving story was about to present itself.  
  
"What now?" Gordo asked with a hint of exhaustion.  
  
"I…" Lizzie began weakly, but was cut off with the loud voice of her father.  
  
"Well, if it isn't Mr.-Big-Time-movie-director David Gordon" his voice laced with sarcasm and anger.  
  
"Thanks?" Gordo almost asked, unsure if Lizzie had actually used the word hate a few seconds before. "I do put a lot of effort into them."   
  
Sam scoffed "Yeah, a lot of effort, a lot more effort than you ever put into your family. I have to ask though, is all the success worth the family you left behind"  
  
Lizzie, sensing that an argument was in the works decided to take a preventative measure. "Dad, I think mom is calling you…" Lizzie flashed her dad an "I know what I'm doing look."  
  
Sam, aware that his fingers were clinching tighter by the moment, shot Lizzie a look of acknowledgement and apprehension. "Why don't you go outside with mom and let me take care of this." Sam shot Gordo a homicidal maniac look, but allowed Lizzie to lead him to the door.  
  
"If he tries anything," Sam yelled, not even trying to whisper, "I'll be right there and we'll take care of this for good."  
  
Lizzie nodded, "Please just trust me dad." She hurried back to the living room.  
  
Gordo had been thinking about the encounter he had just had with Sam McGuire, trying to figure out what he had meant by his remarks.   
  
"I'm sorry about that Gordo, my dad just…"  
  
"…Just thinks that I walked out on you and Emily. Implying that I had prior knowledge of Emily which you and I both know is not true. That's what he thinks, right?" His voice was becoming increasingly louder.   
  
Lizzie thought quickly trying to find a suitable way to cover herself and finally gave it up; lying is what had gotten her into this mess. She just nodded her head miserably. Gordo's eyes narrowed in anger.   
  
"I can't believe… Can you explain to me what exactly it is that he thinks Lizzie?"  
  
Lizzie stared at him a long time not wanting to say it, not wanting to actually hear the words.  
  
"Lizzie?"  
  
"He thinks…"   
  
Gordo nodded his head encouraging the rest to come spilling out.  
  
"They…think that I told you that I was pregnant, but you decided to leave anyway and that you chose not to have any contact with me or our child. They believe that you chose your career over us." Lizzie had to admit there was a certain feeling of relief in letting that all come out and getting it off of her chest, even if the truth did sound horrible. "In my defense," Lizzie followed, "they didn't give me much of a chance to tell them the truth, they just assumed that's how it had happened."  
  
"Oh, well that's just great, you've painted yourself as an angel and I'm some kind of demon." Gordo's anger was becoming more evident. "Lizzie, you've had six years to set them straight, you really want me to believe that you never had a chance."  
  
Lizzie closed her eyes; this was not getting any easier. "See the thing is, they didn't know that you were the father until…yesterday, when I accidentally told them."   
  
Gordo's eyes got wide, not so much in anger but surprise. "What, how could they not…did they even… Lizzie what have you been doing for the last six years?"   
  
Lizzie rolled her eyes, "They've known about Emily the whole time, they just didn't know you were the father."  
  
"Who did they…" Lizzie shrugged uncomfortably  
  
"Just some guy, I said it was a rebound date and… you know. I was trying to protect you, and me and I was embarrassed and I didn't want any one to know because I didn't want you…to find out about her."   
  
"Oh really, so you were trying to protect me, but you didn't want me to find out that I had a child. How is making me a miscreant father, in the eyes of your parents, protecting me?"   
  
"Look, you made it clear that I was holding you back, how would you have felt if I had tracked you down on your 'dream job' half way around the world and announced that you and I had a child together? I just decided-"  
  
"Did you hear that, you decided? You decided for me. Lizzie you never gave me a chance to see what I would do. You know, you've done some pretty ridiculous things in your life, but I always thought that underneath you were a good honest person, but this…? Lizzie this is OUR child, you've denied me the knowledge of knowing my own child because you were mad and you were hurt. How stupid and immature can you be?"  
  
"Immature? Excuse me, I'm immature? You ran out on me in the middle of the night and never once attempted to get in touch with me just completely cut me out of you life after 22 years and I'm immature? I'm the one that had a baby on my own. I managed to find a good job. I moved to a new city in a new state and have been supporting her on my own for the last five years and I'm immature? I was immature all those nights I got up every two hours to feed her and every time she cried in the middle of the night? I was the one who got rid of the monsters and I've kissed every bump and scrape and celebrated every big day of her life with her." Lizzie eyes became hot with tears. "So maybe I acted immaturely but she's been better of with an 'immature' parent than one who was never there."  
  
"Lizzie that is unfair and you know it. How can I get through to you, you never gave me the opportunity to be there in her life! You took away any say I may have had in the matter, you completely cut me out. Why can't you get that?"  
  
"Because when you walked out that door you made it clear that you no longer wanted me in your life. You cut me out, David, what would you have done? You didn't want me, why would I think that you would want our child? It was instinct; I was protecting my child. You had hurt me so badly, I was not going to let you hurt her the same way and walk out on both of us."  
  
"But she's my child," Gordo yelled. "Why can't you even try to understand this. And there you go again, it shouldn't have been about you, what you want and how you felt. It should have been what was right. Instead it was all about you getting your revenge. And that's low Lizzie that is really low. You used our child to get back at me."  
  
"Get back at you? Wow that's really conceited. Don't you get it Gordo, she hasn't needed you, she doesn't need you and she won't ever need you. You are nothing to her." Even as the words were leaving her mouth Lizzie knew that what she had said was excessively cruel, and she knew that it wasn't true. Emily did need a father, had asked about him on several occasions recently, but he had made her so angry she had simply retaliated. "Gordo, I… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it…I was just so…"  
  
Gordo stepped backwards, giving the appearance that he had just been slapped; in a way he had been. Lizzie watched as he felt around, blindly for the couch. He looked like he needed to sit down, but instead he paused.   
  
"Just shut up Lizzie."   
  
They stared at each other for a moment letting the angry words that had been said hang in the air above them. Finally without a word Gordo turned to leave. Lizzie began to feel panic all over again.  
  
"Gordo, where are you going?"   
  
He turned back to her when he got to the door and shook his head unhappily.   
  
"Lizzie I came back hoping to make amends with you, even hoping that maybe there was still a future for us, together. But now…maybe we weren't meant to be, maybe we were meant to be a one time thing and then go our separate ways."  
  
"Wait, what about Emily, what about your daughter?"   
  
"You already said it Lizzie, she'll be fine without me."  
  
Lizzie wanted to say 'no, Gordo she does need you, I think I even need you'. However, no sounds came out of her mouth. Gordo turned and left the room. A few seconds later she heard the soft sound of the door close, and finally, the car drive off. Lizzie sat alone in the living room trying to figure out how it had all gone so horribly wrong so fast.  
  
=-=-=  
  
In the McGuire backyard, Jo and Sam McGuire were speculating on the events transpiring in the living room.  
  
"I can't believe he came here!" Jo exclaimed, "After all this time. What do you think she told him?"  
  
"Hopefully she told him to get the hell out and to never come near her again or Emily again."   
  
"Sam I know you're angry, but have you ever stopped to think that maybe Emily needs him? Sure Lizzie is probably upset and angry right now, she has every right to be, but she needs to think about the future. Maybe Gordo is ready now to accept some responsibility and be a part of her life." Jo paused, "That little girl needs a father.   
  
Sam began to speak, but stopped; he knew she was right.  
  
"I know," Jo began again, "it's hard watching our little girl have to deal with this, but she's an adult and the last thing she needs from us is us trying to tell her how to live her life. If she wants Gordo back in her life, then that's up to her and it's what's best for Emily."  
  
"I know," Sam replied, "it's just that the thought of that idiot schmuck worming his way back into their life… But, you're right, it's not about me, or you, it's about what's best for Emily."   
  
The conversation was interrupted by the slamming of a car door, followed by the car engine revving as it drove away. "I think he left," Jo said. "Should we go talk to her?"  
  
"I don't know," Sam responded, rubbing his hand through his hair "if she's upset, then we should go talk to her."  
  
"Well we don't want her to think that we're being nosy." Jo began to wipe the dirt from her gloves, "we have to be casual Sam."  
  
"Right, act casual," Sam nodded.  
  
"Sam," Jo cautioned, I mean it casual, we have just happened to walk in." Sam nodded again.  
  
"No, no, I got you, act casual," Sam now had both hands running though his hair.  
  
"I'll do the talking," Jo replied, as she gave Sam a weary-eyed look.  
  
A/N: Yea! A finished chapter, I have started the next one already, but I know better than to give approximate dates, they never happen! Hopefully it won't be long. 


End file.
